The Knowledgeable
by Anubis Enfield
Summary: I had no name, no home, no life of my own. Just a watch. I hated humans for what they did to me. Then he came. He gave me a name. Did I trust him? No. but what choice did I have?
1. Chapter 1: 42

**This is a Doctor Who fanfic I wrote randomly when the idea popped into my head of 'what if there was something else on that ship in 42'. Review please and let me know what you think.**

* * *

I took a deep breath in through my nose, legs crossed before me and eyes shut, listening. It's all I could do, nowadays. Listen. I wrinkled my nose, letting out a sneeze as the moldy smelling room I was in tickled my nose. I then wiped it, ignoring the chains rattling against the ground, keeping me where I was. I was being shipped somewhere. Couldn't care where since everywhere I've been has only proved to be worse than the last. I scratched my left arm where a bloodied bandage lay wrapped, probably needing a change. _They'll be here to do that soon. Bring me food, probably._ My thoughts drifted trying to remember how long I had been in this state.

Years, most definitely. The first time I was caught had been nearly fifty years ago. Switched to the next guy after seventeen years and the next after ten. This last guy had the most fun with me, if you could call it that, and I spent twenty-three years with him before he finally shipped me off to some other research facility. Wasn't surprising to me. I had actually gotten bored with the changing of owners.

" _Fifty years, and she hasn't aged a day!"_ They would say.

" _And her healing capabilities are amazing!"_

" _Yet she still registers as human! Impossible!"_

I heard it time and time again before the tests would start and the pain would go on. Nothing changed. The human species were a greedy bunch, only working to satisfy their own needs, not caring about the lives of those they messed with. Always wanting to conquer others, even if it meant experimenting on one of their own. They thought I could become a weapon. An indestructible force to wipe out their enemies. I took another deep breath, calming my anger towards my fellow race and listening; the only sound being the ticking of my pocket watch and the quiet voices that whispered to me.

" _Not yet. You can't open it yet."_

The watch was a gift from my long-deceased parents, who warned me not to open it until the time was right. Many tried, but it was sealed shut and they let me keep it, giving me that one piece of comfort, but that was all I could remember of my past. I had dreams sometimes, happy dreams of good times in my life and nightmares of the bad; the later occurring more frequently. None went further back than the age of twelve, however, I did dream of a little blonde girl who was younger than that. I had no memories though. It was as though everything had been wiped clean and my dreams were the only glimpses I could have. It bothered me to no end, wondering who I was, where I came from and—most importantly—why I was always being chased in my nightmares.

" _It's too soon."_ The voice whispered. _"Far too soon."_

 _I know._ My mind whispered back as my eyes stared dully at the metal door before me. _I know._

* * *

The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on a cell phone, before closing the device and tossing it to Martha. "Right, there we go. Universal roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again."

"No way." She grinned, looking down at the phone. "This is mad! You're telling me I can phone anyone, anywhere in space and time on my mobile?"

"As long as you know the area code. Frequent flier's privilege. Go on, try it." He told her with a smile, flipping switches on the Tardis until the whole thing shook violently. "Distress signal!" He said loudly over the noise, looking at a screen and shoving his foot on a lever. "Locking on. Might be a bit—"

The Tardis shook violently before stopping, the Doctor peeking his head back up over the console.

"Turbulence. Sorry." He jumped up and ran towards the door excitedly. "Come on, Martha! Let's take a look."

She got up and followed after him, but the moment they stepped out, neither expected the heat that hit them in the face.

"Whoa! Now that is hot!"

"Whuff! It's like a sauna in here." Martha complained, taking off her jacket as the Doctor leaned down to check something.

"Venting systems. Working at full pelt, trying to cool down. Wherever it is we are. Well, if you can't stand the heat." He pushed open a door, glad as the temperature in the next room cooled down. "Oh, that's better."

"Oi, you two!" Someone shouted, three people hurrying over.

"Get out of there!"

"Seal that door! Now!"

The door was shut and the woman of the group confronted them.

"Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?"

"Are you police?" One of the men asked as the Doctor turned to him.

"Why would we be police?"

"We got your distress signal." Martha said, also very confused.

"If this is a ship, why can't I hear any engines?" The Doctor questioned, ignoring Martha.

"It went dead four minutes ago." The woman replied, breathing hard after her run.

One of the men stepped up. "So maybe we should stop chatting and get to Engineering. _Captain_."

" _Secure closure active._ " The computer announced, surprising everyone.

"What?"

"The ship's gone mad."

Another woman ran towards them as the doors automatically shut behind her. "Who activated secure closure? I nearly got locked in to area twenty-seven!" She then noticed the Doctor. "Who're you?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but Martha did for him.

"He's the Doctor and I'm Martha. Hello…" She said, walking past her, eyes focused on a porthole as the computer spoke up again.

" _Impact projection forty-two minutes twenty-seven seconds._ "

"We'll get out of this. I promise." The captain said, looking at the Doctor before Martha called out behind her.

"Doctor."

"Forty-two minutes until what?" He questioned her, referring to what the computer said, but Martha got his attention.

"Doctor!" She moved closer to the porthole. "Look!"

He hurried over, looking out as well with eyes wide.

"Forty-two minutes until we crash into the sun." The captain replied grimly.

The Doctor ran away from the porthole and grabbed the captain by the shoulders.

"How many crew members on board?!"

"Seven—No, eight, including us." She said, shaking her head as she corrected herself.

"We transport cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated. We just keep the ship space worthy." The one man said, before the Doctor dashed towards the door and opened it.

"Call the others. I'll get you out."

"What's he doing?"

"No, don't!"

Steam came out, knocking the Doctor back as the one woman rushed forwards and closed the door once more

"But my ship's in there!" The Doctor shouted, Martha holding him back.

"In the vent chamber?" The sterner of the two men questioned in disbelief.

"It's our lifeboat." The Doctor replied, standing.

"It's lava."

"The temperature's going mad in there. Up three thousand degrees in ten seconds and still rising." The woman crew member said, drawing their attention to the thermostat.

"Channeling the air." The first man said. "The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's going to get."

"We're stuck here." Martha practically growled at the Doctor who glanced at the door in slight worry and frustration.

"So, we fix the engines, we steer the ship away from the sun. Simple. Engineering down here, is it?" He asked, dashing through a door on the right and hopping down the stairs. "Blimey. Do you always leave things in such a mess?" He asked, referring to the destroyed engine.

"Oh my God." The captain said, followed by the crew behind them.

"What the hell happened?"

"Oh, it's wrecked."

"Pretty efficiently too. Someone knew what they were doing."

The captain looked around. "Where's Korwin? Has anyone heard from him or Ashton?"

"No."

She sighed, turning to one of the men as she headed over to an intercom. "Scannell, go and check up on the—" She glanced at the Doctor and Martha "—cargo in the next room."

He frowned, but nodded, hurrying up the ladder.

"You mean someone did this on purpose?" Martha questioned as the captain spoke into the intercom.

"Korwin? Ashton? Where are you?"

Silence.

"Korwin, can you answer?!" She pulled away from the intercom, gesturing up the ladder. "Where the hell is he? He should be up there."

"Oh, we're in the Torajii system. Lovely." The Doctor said with a grin, glasses now perched on his face as he turned to Martha. "You're a long way from home, Martha. Half a universe away."

"Yeah. Feels it." She quipped, not exactly happy about their predicament; the Doctor approaching the captain.

"And you're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"

Scannell came down from the ladder. "Cargo's good for now. Bit hot in there, but it'll live. Needs the, uh, arm changed though."

The captain nodded, turning to the Doctor. "We're due to upgrade next docking." She then spoke to Scannell. "Scannell, engine report."

He hurried over to the engine screen, the Doctor eyeing them him. "No response."

"What?"

He rushed over to the other end of the engine as she looked over the screen again. "They're burnt out. The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online."

"Oh, come on." The Doctor whined. "Auxiliary engines! Every craft's got auxiliaries!"

"We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in front of the ship." The captain told him.

"Yeah. With twenty-nine password sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time." Scannell said right after.

Martha was worried. "Can't you override the doors?"

"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead-lock sealed."

"So a sonic screwdriver's no use." The Doctor mumbled.

"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time, and no chance."

"Oh, listen to you!" The Doctor whined. "Defeated before you even started! Where's your Dunkirk spirit? Who's got the door passwords?" He asked the captain, but the other crew member responded.

"They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of them. Sorry." He apologized, introducing himself. "Riley Vashti."

"Then what're you waiting for, Riley Vashti? Get on it."

"Well, it's a two person job." He replied, grabbing a pack and something else from off a high shelf. "One, a technish for the questions and the other to carry this. The oldest cheapest security system around, eh, captain?"

"Reliable and simple. Just like you, eh, Riley?" She replied as he adjusted the pack on his back.

"Try and be helpful, get abuse. Nice."

"I'll help." Martha offered. "Make myself useful."

"It's remotely controlled by the computer panel. That's why it needs two." He grinned at her, but before she could follow after him, the Doctor stopped her.

"Oi… Be careful."

She nodded back with a smile. "You too."

Once she was gone though, the Doctor turned to the captain seriously.

"Now you're going to tell me what you're keeping up in there or I'll be sure to take Martha and my ship and leave you all here."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said, though the Doctor could easily see through the lie and stepped closer; his height intimidating.

"You're lying, and you'll find I don't take lying very well, especially if there's a life involved."

She hesitated, before sighing, giving in. "We didn't want to do it, but the pay was too good to pass up and after what they told us about it… We didn't really have much of a choice."

"What is it?"

She nodded towards the ladder heading upstairs. "Come on. I'll show you."

* * *

It was getting hotter in here, but I didn't mind. A little heat was nothing to me. One of the crew members came to check up on me a few minutes ago, the nasty one. He believed that _I_ was the one who did something to the engines and spit at me, though I didn't even flinch as I ignored him and went back to my meditating. _Not like there's any way for me to get out of here and even if I did, where could I go? We're in the middle of space and it sounds like we're crashing too. Into a sun, if the heat's anything to go by._ I took a deep breath, listening and hearing footsteps heading this way. _Two pairs, man and a woman's. I recognize the replacement captain's, but the other could be anyone._ They stopped outside the door and spoke for a moment, too quietly for me to hear, before the door opened and light entered the metal room I was encased in, though I didn't move or open my eyes.

"A human?! You're treating a _human_ _being_ like another piece of your bloody cargo?!"

"We didn't have a choice!" The captain shouted in return to the man.

"You _always_ have a choice!"

The man went quiet and I could hear him approach me, kneeling down in front of me as I took in another breath, listening. _Hm, his scent… it reminds me of my father's._

"Hey, can you hear me?"

"Yes." I replied. "You were very loud earlier. Hard _not_ to hear you."

"Right. Sorry. Are you, um… alright?"

"For now." I replied.

I could hear him shifting, probably looking back at the captain, before turning back to me.

"You're hurt."

I could feel him reaching towards my arm, but my eyes snapped open and I grabbed his wrist before he could so much as touch me.

"Don't touch me." I snapped, eyes gazing back into his with a warning.

"I want to help." He said back, seriously.

I released him, closing my eyes once more and returning to my previous position. "Then let us burn."

"How did you—" The captain started to say, but the Doctor had shifted in some way, cutting her off; still speaking to me.

"Why? Why do you not want me to save this ship?"

"Because if my destination is anything like the others, I'd rather be dead." I told him, opening my eyes to stare back at his coldly. "I have been through much in fifty years and I do not wish to have any part in it anymore."

His eyes widened. " _Fifty years_? But you don't look a day over twenty-five!"

"As I've been told." I replied, bored. _He's just like all the others. Greedy human._

I paused then, frowning as I picked up something I wasn't used to hearing and glancing at his chest.

"You have two hearts."

He seemed surprised, but smiled. "I do."

 _Not human then._ I mused, before sighing and leaning back against the wall. "You should go."

"Nah, can't do that. Not when lives are hanging in the balance."

"Then save them and leave me be. I wish to have no part in this."

"Can't do that either." He said, before I heard a strange noise and the clattering of one of my handcuffs, causing me to open my eyes as he pointed a glowing stick at the other one; it falling to the ground as well.

"What are you doing?!" The captain called out, hurrying in the room, but keeping her distance from me, wary. "She's dangerous!"

"Oh, I don't think so." The man replied, standing with a grin. "A little confused, a little beat up, maybe a little angry and scared, but not dangerous."

"I'm _not_ scared." I told him with a frown as he continued to grin.

"Alright!"

"And I'm not coming with you." I said right after. _I don't trust him._

"Oh now, see? I really think you should. Get up, walk around, see the sights." He rambled. "Could be fun!"

I gave him a look. "We're crashing into a sun. What's there to see?"

He smirked down at me, leaning over and offering me his hand. " _Everything_."

I didn't want to take his hand. I didn't trust this smiling stranger, even if he wasn't human, but the voice came back to me; whispering in my ear.

" _He is safe. He can protect us. Keep us hidden. Go."_

Reluctantly, I took his hand, allowing him to help me up and keep me steady as I got used to walking once again after a week of sitting around.

"So what's your name?" He asked as we walked down the hall to a ladder leading below.

"I have none." I replied. "My memories are gone from before I was—appeared to be twelve." I corrected, not sure how old I was then if I've been twenty-five for at least fifty years

"Really? Nothing since then?"

I shook my head. "Nothing except the occasional glimpse in a dream. I've been called everything from 'Number 51' to 'Thing' to 'Abomination'. Take your pick."

He frowned as he headed down the ladder before me, looking up at me with old, sympathetic eyes. "No. I won't call you any of those." He then smiled. "I know! I'll make one up! How about Kristy?"

I frowned, peering down at him as he landed below. "No."

I then started climbing down after him, cringing as my body ached in the process and the man continued to try and come up with a name.

"Jennifer?"

"No—" I lost my grip on the ladder and fell back, bracing myself for the ground, only to be caught by the same smiling man.

"Whoops! Caught ya!"

I frowned and pulled away from him, brushing myself off.

"You should be more careful." He said. "Sitting in there for a week… Your muscles haven't had a chance to adjust to moving around too much quite yet… Angie?"

"No."

He shrugged. "Alright."

"Oi, what's that _thing_ doing out?" The nasty man said; Scannell, if I remember right.

The man beside me glared at him. " _I_ let her out and if you have a problem with that, then just _try_ doing something about it."

The man went silent, sending the captain a glance, but she just shook her head. Just then, there was a voice coming from an intercom behind me.

" _McDonnell. It's Ashton_."

The captain, McDonnell, rushed over to answer it. "Where are you? Is Korwin with you?"

" _Get up to the med-center now_!" He said, sounding anxious.

She ran past us and the man beside me hurried after her, myself following if only to stay away from Scannell and stick to the only non-human person on the ship.

"So what do I call you then, Mr. Bipolar?" I asked.

"Doctor. Just the Doctor." He replied, before we passed a couple of people and one of them called out to us.

"Hey! Who's that?!"

The Doctor turned to her and grinned. "Dunno!" He then turned to me. "Scarlet?"

"No." I said with a frown, following after him as we continued down the hall, ending up at the med-center as the computer announced how much time we had left.

" _Impact in thirty-four forty-one._ "

The moment we entered, we all spotted a man thrashing on a table leading into a stasis chamber.

"Korwin! What's happened? Is he okay?"

The captain and the Doctor hurried over to his side, but I had frozen over near the door, watching the man struggle under the arms of his companions. My breathing grew ragged and clipped, my hands quivering at my sides as my mind replaced the man with my own image; myself thrashing under the arms of my captors until they injected me with a sedative. My breathing was even faster now and my vision was going tunneled.

"Oi, what's _she_ doing here?" I barely heard over my heart thumping loudly in my mind.

"Hey, hey, come on now. Focus on me, eh?"

I couldn't. I recognized the Doctor's voice, but the flashbacks hitting me were too much.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Panic attack. Something triggered it. Korwin maybe."

I felt something touch my temples and I immediately moved back, eyes wide and my heart going even faster.

"D-Don't touch me."

"I just want to help." The Doctor said, cautiously advancing. "You're going to have to trust me."

"No. N-No. You're like them." I muttered out, taking another step back and bringing a hand to my head, starting to feel as though I couldn't breathe. "I-I won't… I-I can't. I can't trust anyone. It'll j-just keep happening. Again and again and agiainandagainand—"

"Hey!" He grabbed onto my face and I tried to pull back, but he wouldn't let me; forcing me to look at him. "Look at me. Look in my eyes and tell me that I'm lying."

I tried to look away, but he shook me, dragging my eyes back to his.

"Look at me." He demanded. "Look at me and trust that I'm not going to hurt you."

I searched his gaze desperately, looking for any kind of lie, but all I saw was the truth and I reluctantly allowed myself to trust him in that moment. I wasn't sure what he did. We both closed our eyes and with his fingers on my temples, I felt a warmth spread through my mind as the terrors I was facing were shoved back behind closed doors. I relaxed and his removed his hands from my head, looking at me worriedly.

"Are you alright now?"

I slowly nodded, exhausted, but feeling a lot better than before. "Yeah… Sorry."

He smiled, patting my head and offering a hand to me to help me up; not knowing when I had sat down.

"You're welcome, Debra."

I scowled, but took his offered hand. "Don't call me Debra."

"Well, we've got to come up with _something_. I can't just call you 'that girl'."

"Then… call me Riley."

He raised a brow as we walked back to engineering. "Riley? Riley… Riiiiiley. Hm, rolls off the tongue. Alright then! Riley it is!" He paused, turning to me and stopping. "You didn't just choose that because it's that crew member's name, did you?"

I was lost. "Huh? A crew member here is named Riley?"

He smacked himself lightly on the forehead. "Riiight. You've been locked up. Never mind! We should probably see how Korwin's doing."

I stiffened, but he dropped a hand on my shoulder in comfort.

"Don't worry. We can use the intercom. No more flashbacks, alright? Though I expect you to tell me about that."

I frowned at him, taking a slight step back, not wanting to speak to _anyone_ , really, about what has happened to me the past 50 years.

"When you're ready, of course. No rush."

I hesitantly nodded, not expecting to actually talk to him anyway since—once this was all over—I would probably be back in my metal room, but I followed after him as he went to the intercom, fingering the brown collar around my neck and the chain underneath that, that my watch hung off of under my shirt. The warm metal of the watch calmed me as I listened in to the Doctor's conversation with Abi, the woman from the med-center.

"Abi, how's Korwin doing? Any results from the bio-scan?"

" _He's under heavy sedation. I'm just trying to make sense of this data. Give me a couple of minutes and I'll let you know._ "

He then spoke to the two that we passed in the hall. "Martha? Riley number one? How're you doing?"

" _Area twenty-nine_." The woman, Martha, replied. " _At door 28_."

" _Riley number one?_ " The man quipped back, confused as the Doctor spoke again.

"Yeah, you've got to move faster."

" _We're doing our best_."

" _Find the next number in the sequence three one three, three three one, three six seven. What_?"

" _You said the crew knew all the answers_." Martha said, sounding worried.

" _The crew's changed since we set the questions._ "

" _You're joking._ "

 **"Three seven nine."** I said, the same time as the Doctor, who sent me a strange look.

"What?"

"How did you know that?" The Doctor asked me, and I gave him a look, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I'm clever." I then leaned over to the intercom. "They're happy primes. Enter it. Three seven nine."

" _Happy what?_ " Martha questioned as I rolled my eyes and backed off, figuring that the Doctor could explain it to the dim humans, since he seemed to know what I was talking about.

" _Are you sure? We only get one chance_."

"Any number that reduces to one when you take the sum of the square of its digits and you continue iterating until it yields one, is a happy number. Any number that doesn't, isn't. A happy _prime_ is a number that is both, happy and prime. Now type it in! I don't know, talk about dumbing it down." He said, looking over at me as I nodded in agreement. "Don't they teach recreational mathematics anymore?"

" _Ha! Oh, we're through!_ " Martha called out.

"Keep moving as fast as you can." The Doctor replied over her excitement, removing his glasses and speaking seriously. "And Martha, be careful. There may be something else on board this ship."

" _Anytime you want to unnerve me, feel free._ "

"Will do, thanks."

He hurried over to the engine again and shoved some mangled parts into my hands as I held them with a grimace.

"We need a backup plan in case they don't make it to the auxiliary engines in time." He threw his own parts down as I did the same, seeing no hope in repairing the ones he gave me. "Come on, think! Resources, what have we got?"

The crew all kind of turned away, as Martha spoke up again.

" _Doctor?_ "

"What is it now?"

" _Who had the most number ones? Elvis or the Beatles? That's pre-downloads._ "

"Elvis." He said, the same time I said.

"The Beatles."

We faced each other with furrowed brows both suddenly doubting our own answers.

"No! The Beatles!"

"Elvis!"

We frowned at each other again, myself holding my hands up in surrender after a moment, deciding to keep quiet as he argued with himself.

"No! Wait! Um, um, uhhh." He smacked himself in the back of the head a few times. "What was that remix? Um, I don't know! I am a bit busy."

" _Fine._ " She complained. " _I'll ask someone else_."

"Now, where was I?" The Doctor said, turning back to the crew before us. "'Here Comes The Sun'. No, resources." He corrected after spouting out a Beatles song name. "So, the power's still working, the generator's going. If we can harness that. Ah!"

He looked around for someone who understood, but before I could say anything, McDonnell spoke up.

"Use the generator to jump-start the ship."

"Exactly. At the very least, it'll buy us some more _time_."

"That is brilliant." She complimented, making the crew smile.

"I know. See? Tiny glimmer of hope."

"If it works." Scannell grumbled.

"Oh, believe me. You're going to make it work."

"That told him." The Doctor grinned, glad everyone was a bit more chipper, though the computer knocked that down a notch.

" _Impact in twenty-nine forty six._ "

The Doctor began to pace as the computer spoke up again, but Abi suddenly spoke to us.

" _Doctor, these readings are beginning to scare me._ "

"What do you mean?"

" _Well, Korwin's body is changing. His whole biological make-up._ " She said, voice shaking in worry. " _It's impossible_."

We heard a noise, before Abi became more frantic.

" _This is med-center. Urgent assistance requested. Urgent assistance!_ "

"Stay there! Keep working!" The Doctor shouted to the crew, dashing off towards the med-center as I hurried after him, McDonnell and Scannell following after.

The Doctor stopped down a hall, looking displeased. "I told you to stay in engineering!"

"I only take orders from one person 'round here." Scannell replied, moving past us.

"Oh, is he always this cheery?" The Doctor quipped, before hurrying off again as screams came over the intercom.

" _Doctor? What were those screams?_ " Martha asked afterwards, our group climbing up the stairs.

"Concentrate on those doors! You've got to keep moving forward!"

" _Impact in twenty-seven o' six._ " The computer said as we hurried into the med-center, myself leaning against the door frame gasping for air.

"It's been… a long time… since I ran like that." I muttered quietly, trying to keep my legs from shaking.

"Korwin's gone." The captain said, but Scannell was focused on the scorch marks on the wall in the shape of a human.

"Oh my God… Tell me that's not Lerner."

The Doctor went over and brushed his fingers over it. "Endothermic vaporization… I've never seen one this ferocious." He seemed to realize something then. "Burn with me."

"That's what we heard Korwin say."

"What? Do you think? No way. Scannell, tell him. Korwin is not a killer. He can't vaporize people. He's human!"

I rolled my eyes with a scoff. "Just because he's _human_ doesn't mean he can't do horrible things."

"You shut up." She growled at me and I glared in return, before the Doctor held up something.

"His bios can results. Internal temperature, one hundred _degrees_. Body oxygen replaced by hydrogen. Your husband hasn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed."

McDonnell snatched the papers from him angrily. "The test results are wrong."

"But what is it, though? A parasite? A mutagenic virus?" He questioned himself, ignoring her as he looked at another sheet. "Something that needs a host body, but how did it get inside him?"

"Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment!" She snapped, making me bristle up as well.

"Oh right, because talking about me like cargo is all fine and dandy!"

"Enough!" The Doctor scolded, silencing the two of us, before he turned to the captain. "Where's this ship been? Have you made planet-fall recently? Docked with any other vessels? Any kind of external contact at all?"

"What is this, an interrogation?" She asked, having shook her head no to the other questions.

"We've got to stop him before he kills again."

"We're just a cargo ship." She let out a deep breath, turning away, overcome with emotions over her husband as Scannell tried to get the Doctor to calm down a little.

"Doctor, if you give her a minute."

"I'm fine. I need to warn the crew." She said, turning away from him as he tried to comfort her, and heading to the intercom. "Everybody, listen to me. Something has infected Korwin. We think… he killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"

"Understood captain." Came one man's voice as the computer went off again.

" _Impact in twenty-four fifty-one_."

The Doctor continued to try and read more of the bio-scan results as I did the same, searching for something of importance, but I was more of a mechanics person than a medical one and I simply turned to passing the papers along to the Doctor.

"Is the infection permanent?" The captain asked, having sat down to calm her nerves. "Can you cure him?"

"I don't know." The Doctor said, lying.

She noticed this as well. "Don't lie to me, Doctor. Eleven years we've been married. We chose this ship together. He keeps me honest, so I don't want false hope."

I wanted to scoff at this, knowing that she has already lied just to keep me hidden, but stayed silent, too tired to argue right now. After the running we just did, I was still trying to get back up to speed, my arm starting to itch as an infection set in, and after everything I'd been through in 50 years, I was starting to realize just how weak I was.

"The parasite's too aggressive." The Doctor said, seriously. "Your husband's gone. There's no way back. I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

"Are you certain nothing happened to provoke this? Nobody's working on anything secret? Because it's vital that you tell me."

"I know every inch of this ship. I know every detail of my crew's lives. There is nothing. The only thing I don't know anything about is that _thing_ over there." She gestured to me.

"Hey." He scolded. "I will not tolerate this any longer, got it? She's just as human as the rest of you lot, of stop treating her like a _thing_."

"She's _nothing_ like us." Scannell retorted with a snarl in my direction. "That thing is more like an _animal_ than a human."

"What did I just—"

I cut the Doctor off. "They're right." I looked up at him, dead serious. "I'm _nothing_ like them."

I got up and left, hearing the Doctor call after me, but ignoring him as I headed back to my metal room. I was tired of humans. I didn't care if I _was_ one. I'd do anything to not be after everything they did to me. The experiments were torture. So what if I could heal faster than regular people? So what if I didn't age at the same rate? Or I learned faster than others? 50 years in a cell? Being picked at and torn apart? _I'd rather be dead._

I collapsed in my room, the door hanging open and my body slumped back against the wall where I had been chained up. Reaching into my loose shirt, I pulled out my pocket watch, pressing it to my forehead as I listened once more.

" _Too soon. Not yet. Keep us safe."_

"I know." I muttered, used to hearing the same thing over and over again, but it was safe.

It was what I was used to. The only thing that didn't change. That didn't betray me. The metal was always warm to the touch, something I never figured out, but I didn't mind. It reminded me of my parents and the quiet ticking from it kept me calm, even when all I wanted to do was throw a fist into a wall.

* * *

" _Impact in seventeen o' five_." The computer announced.

I frowned, wearily opening my eyes, not knowing when I had drifted off. I could hear something though. And not something good.

"Scannell! I need a spacesuit in area seventeen now!"

"What for?"

"Just get down here!"

I blinked, heart shuddering at the urgency in the Doctor's voice and I went to get up, only to stop. _What am I doing? Helping him? I don't even know him. Why should I—_

" _Safe. He is safe. He'll protect us. Go."_

I clenched the watch tighter in my hand, gritting my teeth together before shouting in frustration and stuffing it back down my shirt, standing and running to area seventeen. When I got there, all I saw was the Doctor staring out of the window of an escape pod room.

"Your friend just launch themselves into space?" I questioned, earning a harsh glare from the Doctor as he came over and got in my face.

"I don't want to hear _anything_ from you."

"Yeah, well, I never wanted to get involved in the first place." I growled back. "But this stupid voice in my head won't let me _not_ get involved."

I tapped my temple and continued to frown at the man as he frowned back, before Scannell suddenly showed up with a spacesuit.

"Here, I brought the, uh, space suit."

"Good." The Doctor said, reaching for it, but I grabbed it first, making him frown. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like, idiot?" I quipped back, already starting to put it on. "I'm not going to let you go out there."

"She's _my_ companion." He growled, grabbing the helmet before I could put it on.

"Yeah, and you're indispensable at the moment." I snapped back, yanking it from his grip. "No one would care if I was killed."

His eyes softened at that and I turned to the door.

"Now tell me what to do."

"There should be a lever on the outside of the ship, to the right of the door. Pull it. It should remagnitize the pod." He paused and then questioned me. "There's no talking you out of it?"

"Nope." I said, popping the 'p'.

"Nothing…"

I turned to him with a frown. "Look. You wanna know what's happened to me in the last 50 years? Fine. I'm a human experiment. Every test, procedure, or surgery you can think of, it's been done to me. So yeah, I hate humans, because all they've ever done is see how far they can go without killing me. Your friend out there, _is_ human. Do I care? No. I could care less about her or about _you_ , for that matter. But this damn voice in my head won't stop telling me that you can help me, so if I get out of this alive, then that's exactly what you better do. Got it?"

He blinked at me in surprise, but before he could respond, I stuff my head into the helmet and went for the door.

"Good luck." He said, making me glance at him and nod, before stepping into the airlock.

* * *

 _Ohhhh, I should not have done this._ I mentally lamented, clutching to the side of the door and doing my best to get to the outside, reaching desperately to the buttons. Finally, I hit one of them, feeling my arms ache as I stretched them to the limit hitting the second button to open the box. I could tell by looking at it that it was just a bit further than the buttons, making me doubt on whether I could reach them or not.

" _Riley, how are you doing?_ " I heard the Doctor question over my headset.

"I can't. I can't reach." I grunted out, struggling to reach for the box as I could feel the heat get worse inside the suit; black spots lining my vision as I grew more and more dehydrated. "I don't know how much longer I can last."

" _Come on, Riley. Don't give up now_."

"Even if I did… I couldn't leave you hanging." I replied, stretching up just enough to yank the cover off the box.

 _Come on. One more stretch. I can do it._ I reached, gloved-fingers sliding off the switch a few times as I grit my teeth and clenched my eyes shut. _Come on!_ Finally, I grabbed a hold of it, breathing hard as I felt my muscles strain to the point of tearing, shouting as I used what strength I had left to pull it down, slumping against the frame of the door in exhaustion. I climbed back into the hold and turned to make sure that the pod was indeed returning, when my eyes caught sight of the sun. I could feel my own heart thumping loudly in my chest as I stared at it. _It's alive… the sun, it's… alive…_

" _Riley!_ "

I clenched my eyes shut, feeling heat build up within me as my eyes burned, forcing myself to keep them shut as I staggered out of the airlock and took off my helmet.

"Riley! Riley, are you alright?!" The Doctor questioned, hovering over me as I writhed in pain.

"Stay back!" I shouted, voice distorted.

"Doctor! Doctor! Are you alright?" I heard Martha calling, though I quickly clamped my hands over my ears, trying to keep from shouting. "Is _she_ alright?"

"No. I don't know what's wrong!" The Doctor called out. "Riley! Speak to me! Tell me what's wrong!"

"What happened?!" I heard McDonnell say as I scooted back against the wall.

"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!" I shouted at her, keeping my eyes shut.

I heard her order the other Riley off to do something as the Doctor spoke to me, hands holding my shoulders.

"Riley, come on. Talk to me. What's going on? Can you open your eyes? Let me see."

"N-No!" I shouted back at him, my eyes having opened for a second, revealing the light before I clenched them shut tightly once more. "No! Stay back! It's her fault! Hers!"

"What happened, Riley?! Tell us!"

"She mined that sun! Stripped its surface for cheap fuel!" I shouted, pausing to catch my breath. "You should have scanned for life!"

"I don't understand."

"Doctor, what is she talking about?!" Martha called out as I writhed in agony.

"It's alive…" He murmured. "The sun was alive! A living organism!"

"They scooped out its heart!" I called back. "It's screaming!"

"W-What does she mean? How can a sun be alive? Why is she saying that?" McDonnell questioned.

"It's in me!" I yelled, squirming. "Gah!"

"Oh my God…"

"Humans!" I shouted, feeling my own anger burn against them along with the sun. "You're so greedy! Take whatever's closest and bleed it dry! Attacking things that are different than you! You should have scanned!"

"It takes too long. We'd be caught." She replied. "Fusion scoops are illegal."

"Gah!" I screamed, feeling the pain get even worse, the Doctor picking me up with Martha's help.

"We've got to freeze it! Quickly!" He told them, hurrying down the hall.

"What?!"

"The stasis chamber!" He told them, trying to keep a hold on me as I sagged. "We have to freeze it out of her!"

"But she'll die!"

"I can handle it!" I shouted back, feeling the Doctor hold me a little tighter. "I'm not like you! I never was! Just throw me out!

"No!" The Doctor shouted back. "I won't let them do that! Do you hear me?! I'm not going to let anyone hurt you anymore, Riley! So hang in there! Stay with me!"

* * *

Riley continued to scream as they half-carried, half-dragged her down the hall and into the med-center.

"Gah!"

"Hang in there, Riley! Come on!"

Between him and Martha, they hauled her up onto the table and the captain helped hold her down as the Doctor began doing the settings for the stasis chamber.

"Doctor!" Riley cried out.

"I'm here, Riley!" He replied, knowing that this was probably making things worse the longer they had to struggle with her, especially since she had a panic attack earlier seeing someone else held down.

"Gah! J-Just keep… Keep talking! Please! Tell me I'm not back there! I'm not back with them!"

"Alright! It's alright, Riley! You're not back there! You here with me!" He replied, before the captain spoke up.

"Nobody can survive those temperatures! You'll be killing her!"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. She says she can survive and I'll trust her on that. Human or not."

"Let me help you then!"

"You've done enough damage!" Martha snapped back, worry settling in for this stranger that she and the Doctor were helping.

"Ten seconds." He said, looking down at Riley. "Can you handle that, Riley? Ten seconds."

She nodded, before crying out once more. "Gah, it's burning me up! I can't control it much longer! I-I could kill you! Just—Gah—Just throw me out! I could kill you all!"

"I can't do that, Riley." He told her, brushing some of her dark brown hair from off her forehead. "You know I can't. I'll stop it. Promise."

"Ah! I-I'm scared." Riley whimpered. "I'm scared. I-I don't want this. I don't want the pain to come back. Please. Let me go! I'm sorry! No more! No more!"

"It's making her hallucinate." The Doctor said, turning to Martha and McDonnell. "We have to hurry. Stay calm, Riley! You're with me! The Doctor, remember?"

"D-Doctor!"

"That's right!" He said, checking a few more things on the stasis chamber. "You saved Martha, now I'm going to save you."

He used a joystick to roll her into the chamber, worry fluttering through him because he wasn't sure if Riley was actually being truthful when saying she could survive those temperatures. He didn't know what _kind_ of experiments her captors had been running on her or why they took her in the first place other than her being different and not aging. She said nothing about her healing capabilities and if she was only human, there would be no way for her to survive something like this, but something was telling him that she'd be okay. _I have to trust her_.

"Are you ready?" He asked her.

"N-No!"

He clenched his eyes shut for a moment, but proceeded, starting up the freezing process. She screamed loudly as the temperature went down, making Martha look over at him in worry and—though he was feeling the same—he kept it off his face, knowing that there wasn't much else he could do.

" _Heat shields failing. At five percent_." The computer announced, but he ignored it, his first priority being the woman in front of him.

Just then, the power went out, stopping the freezing process just as the thermostat hit -70.

"No, no, no, no, _no_!" The Doctor shouted, slamming a fist into the stasis chamber. "It's too soon! What happened?!"

"The power's been cut in engineering." McDonnell responded.

"But who's down there?!" Martha asked, and she frowned.

"Leave it to me."

She ran out as the Doctor tried to stop her.

"No wait!"

There was nothing he could do though and Riley began crying out once more, the computer announcing their time.

" _Impact in four forty-seven_."

"Come on." The Doctor muttered, trying anything to override the power and get the frost working again. "Martha, I need you to go."

"No way." She stubbornly replied.

"No, listen." He scolded back, looking over at her. "Get to the front. Vent the engines. There's sun particles in the fuel, get rid of them."

"I am not leaving you."

"You've got to give back what they took! Riley's going to die if you don't!"

She glanced over at the woman as she thrashed. "But Doctor—"

"Please! Go!" He shoved her towards the exit and she hurried off.

" _Impact in four o' eight_."

"Oh, shut up!" He shouted up at the computer.

"Doctor! Doctor please! Stop them! Make them stop!"

He hurried over to Riley, grasping her hand tightly. "Riley, listen to me. I'm not going to let them hurt you anymore, okay? Just hang on."

Her thrashing grew worse, the grip on his hand unbearably tight, before he heard something he didn't want to hear.

"Burn with me. Burn with me, Doctor."

"No, no, no! Come on Riley! Fight it!"

She went to get up, screaming, climbing out of the stasis chamber and tumbling to the ground; eyes opening to show the light, but it didn't last long before she let out one last groan and toppled over. The light died from her eyes and the ship lurched, sending her rolling before the Doctor caught her and held on; the ship finally pulling away from the sun.

" _Impact averted. Impact averted. Impact averted_."

"Oh-ho, Martha." He grinned, looking down at the exhausted, half-conscious Riley and pulling her a little closer; still tense after their scare. "We're safe. We're finally safe."

"Doctor!" He heard Martha shout, her form coming through the med-center doorway and grabbing him in a hug as they both laughed.

"O-Oi. You're squishing me." Riley grumbled from between them, eyes still half-lidded in exhaustion.

"Right. Sorry." The Doctor chuckled. "Feeling better?"

She groaned, forcing herself to sit up with his help and leaning against the wall behind them. "A bit, yeah."

"That's good! What do you say we go and meet up with the others, yeah?"

She grunted, not sounding too pleased but not really being in a position to say much about it.

"Good! It's settled then. Come on. Up we go!" He helped her up, supporting her as they left the room and headed down to the venting rooms; neither noticing Martha's upset expression towards Riley.

* * *

"This is never your ship." Scannell said, once we stood in front of a blue police box.

"Compact, eh?" The Doctor commented, having moved around to check for damages once I was able to at least lean against something on my own. "And another good word, robust. Barely a scorch mark on her."

He pat her and turned back around to face the two last crew members and myself.

"We can't just leave you drifting with no fuel." Martha commented, though they didn't seem worried.

"We've sent out an official mayday. The authorities'll pick us up soon enough." The other Riley replied.

"Though how we explain what happened…" Scannell shook his head, but the Doctor interrupted.

"Just tell them. That sun needs care and protection just like any other living thing."

I glanced down at my folded arms, feeling those words smack me in the face like a slap.

"You coming, Riley number two?"

I glanced back up quickly, very confused. "What?"

The Doctor nodded towards his ship with a grin. "We made a deal, didn't we?"

My brows furrowed. "But you already helped me." I replied, speaking about when he save me from being burned from the inside out.

"Nah. Not really." He shrugged. "'Sides, weren't you listening? _Every_ living thing needs care and protection. Including you."

"Really?" I asked, feeling hope start to rise up, though I kept it stifled as best I could, not completely trusting the Doctor just yet; even if he _did_ save my life—not that I wanted him too.

He smiled, nodding towards the ship. "Come on."

I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face as I hurried up and ran into the ship behind him, staring wide-eyed up at the tall ceiling that was unexpected from the small outward appearance. I wandered around the main room, looking at everything from the pillars to the railing and the machinery; the Doctor just leaning up against the center console with a grin.

"Didn't know you could smile." He joked as I headed towards him, smacking him on the arm.

"Shut it."

He chuckled. "So what do you think?"

"She's beautiful." I murmured, coming over to the console and brushing my hand across it. "Absolutely breathtaking."

"Well, that's a new one." He said, making me look up as he scratched the back of his head. "Most just say 'it's bigger on the inside'."

He mocked them in a funny voice as I continued to grin, hand still on the console.

"Oh, how I wish I could just take you apart."

The ship seemed to groan disapprovingly at that and I stared up at the ceiling, holding my hands up in surrender.

"Right. Sorry. Didn't mean it like that. Just curious."

The Doctor gave me a look as the ship hummed in acceptance of my apology, before I turned to him.

"So what's she called?"

"Hm? Oh, she's the Tardis. Time and relative dimensions in space. She can—"

"Let me guess, travel through time and space?" I interrupted, enjoying his surprised expression.

"How did you know that?"

"I told you." I tapped the side of my head. "I'm clever. That, and it's in the name. Not too hard to figure out."

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Martha skipped in happily.

"So, didn't really need either of you in the end, did we?" She bounded over to the Doctor as we both sort of dropped our cheerful expressions, remembering what had just occurred. "Sorry. How are you two doing?"

We both glanced at her and then each other, silently relaying the message not to speak of it again, before we both proceeded to ignore her.

"Now what do you say? Ice skating on the mineral lakes of Kur-ha. Fancy it?"

"Whatever you like." Martha said, looking down as he turned to me.

I shrugged half-heartedly. "Sounds good."

He turned back to her then, speaking softer in an attempt to cheer her up. "By the way, you'll be needing this."

He pulled out a long chain with a key on it, passing it to her as I stared on in confusion. She seemed excited though.

"Really?"

"Frequent flier's privilege." He replied, lying it in her hands. "Thank you."

I poked my head over. "Thanks for me too."

She shook her head with a small smile. "Don't mention it."

"Alright. I won't." I said, walking off with my hands up in a shrug.

"That's not what I meant." She whined after me, before seeming to realize something. "Oh no. Mum."

She went to speak with her mother on the phone; the Doctor half paying attention to her as he moved about the console messing with switches and dials, and I came over as well, watching.

"Can you teach me?"

"What's that?"

I gestured to the console. "Her. Can you teach me about her?"

He raised a brow. "Like what? Flying her?"

I nodded, waving my hand about the console. "Flying and fixing and all the gadgets and gizmos. I'm curious."

"Are you out of your mind?" He questioned, looking completely serious which made me frown up at him.

"No. Like I said. Curious." I looked back down at the console. "I'm a fixer. Used to do it all the time before…"

I trailed off, the room getting quiet other than Martha on the phone.

"Yeah. Tonight. Do my best. Um, just remind me. What day is it again?"

"I suppose I could teach you a few things." The Doctor finally said, rubbing the back of his neck before pointing at my excited face. "But no flying."

"Right. Gotcha… Gotta learn that on my own then." I muttered the last bit under my breath, but he apparently heard me.

"Oi."

"Yeah, yeah." I said with a roll of my eyes. "No flying. Got… it?"

My feet suddenly gave out from under me and he rushed forward to catch me as I sank to the ground, my complete exhaustion finally catching up to me.

"Hey, hey! Riley!" He pat the side of my face lightly to try and keep me awake, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do it, and I soon slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2: Human Nature

I don't know how long I had been out, but waking up attached to a bunch of monitors with an IV in my arm only made things worse. I scrambled out of bed, ripping the IV out and pressing myself into a ball in the furthest corner of the room, very lost and _very_ confused. _Where am I? I-I thought I was…_ I remembered the Doctor and remembered blacking out, but that distrust in me seeped out, making me think the worst. _He lied. He left me with them! He left me with them a-and now—_ A worried hum echoed in the room and my thoughts came to a halt, remembering the sound.

" _We are safe. Hidden. Safe."_

The voice I was used to called out, easing my fears slightly along with the Tardis's gentle humming. _Safe. Safe, alright. I-I have to still be in the Tardis then. Another room?_ I looked around, the sight of the medical room still making me slightly nervous but not as much as before. _Okay. Sick bay then. I just need to find the Doctor and—_ The Tardis hummed again, this time worrying _me_.

"What do you mean he's not here?" I muttered, using the wall behind me to push myself up onto my feet. "How long have I been out?"

She hummed once more.

"A while? Seriously? Can't just tell me then?"

I rolled my eyes as she hummed once more, myself not the least bit surprised that I could converse with her, having conversed with things far stranger in my lifetime than a blue police box. Wobbling slightly as I tried to get my muscles back up to speed, I headed over to the monitors that had been checking me and frowned. _That long? Man. I must have really took a hit then._ I shook my head and spoke to the Tardis once more.

"You have anything that could boost my immune systems?" I gestured to my freshly bandaged arm. "I would've healed already if I hadn't had my healing abilities knocked down so far."

She hummed and a drawer opened on a nearby cupboard, showing me a bundle of bottles with pills. I sighed and began searching for the right one, finding it, downing a few pills dry, and pocketing the bottle; knowing I should be taking them every so often. This brought my attention down to my grimy clothes though and I grimaced, looking back up at the ceiling.

"Don't suppose you could do anything about my clothes then?"

The door opened and I nodded, heading out and walking down the hall until I came to another door. Once I opened it, I smirked, patting the door frame.

"Oh, I do like you."

The wardrobe was huge and I pulled out some nice jeans, black ankle boots, a white printed t-shirt and a leather jacket; tossing my old clothes in a bin the Tardis provided. Thanking her, I asked if she could point me towards the console room and the next door I opened just so happened to be that. My grin slowly fell as I released that she was right, and the Doctor wasn't around, leaving me alone to be bored. Sighing, I rubbed the back of my head and settled for fiddling with buttons and switches on the console; the Tardis warning me whenever I started to reach for something I shouldn't mess with. I found one that turned out the lights, one that played music, one that turned on the monitors facing the door, and even one that turned off the gravity. I left the music playing, humming as I danced around the console messing with things (finding a button that filled the room with bubbles even!) when suddenly the door slammed open and the Doctor and Martha returned.

"Get down!"

I ducked as they dove across the floor and a green laser blasted into the room, before the Doctor closed the door. He then grabbed Martha by the shoulders, shouting at her.

"Did they see you?!"

"I don't know!"

"But did they see you?!"

"I don't know! I was too busy running!"

"Martha, it's important. Did they see your face?!"

"No, they couldn't have." She finally said as a bubble floated between them, making them both turn to me as I poked my head up from the other side of the console.

"I'm guessing I missed something?"

The Doctor threw his coat over a railing, running around the console and flipping things here and there; turning off the bubble machine and the music before putting the Tardis into motion.

"What have you been doing?!"

"Nothing bad!" I replied. "Just pushing buttons!"

"You could've launched yourself into a black hole for all you know!"

"No! The Tardis told me which ones not to touch!" I argued, making him turn to me with a surprised look.

"She did?"

An alarm went off then, and he turned his attention back to that with a frustrated shout.

"Ah! They're following us."

"How can they do that? You've got a time machine." Martha questioned, moving over next to him and I moved to his other side.

"Stolen technology. They've got a Time Agent's vortex manipulator. They can follow us wherever we go, right across the universe. They're never going to stop, unless." He stood up, pulling a hand through his hair until he realized something. "I'll have to do it. Martha, you trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

He turned to me then. "You're going to have to trust me too, Riley."

I nodded. "Alright. I'll do my best."

"Because it all depends on you two."

"What does? What are we supposed to do?"

The Doctor ducked under the Tardis and pulled out a watch, holding it in front of us. "Take this watch. My life depends on it. This watch, Martha, Riley. This watch is me."

I looked at the watch with wide eyes, the watch just under my shirt seeming to pulsate as Martha spoke.

"Right. Okay. Gotcha." She took the watch from him as he ran to the other side of the console, her panicking. "No, hold on. Completely lost."

"Those creatures are hunters. They can sniff out anyone, and me being a Time Lord, well I'm unique. They can track me down across the whole of time and space."

"A time what?" I questioned.

"Later." He grumbled at me as Martha let out a short 'huh'.

"And the good news is?"

"They can smell me, they haven't seen me. And their life span'll be running out, so we hide. Wait for them to die."

"But they can track us down." Martha muttered.

"That's why I've got to do it. I have to stop being a Time Lord… I'm going to become human."

"How?" I questioned, feeling my heart go up into my throat as a memory pushed its way to the front of my mind.

" _Don't worry. It'll hurt, but please,_ please _don't worry. It'll keep you safe. I promise."_

I shook my head out of the thought, putting a hand to my forehead as he lowered a headset.

"Never thought I'd use this. All the times I've wondered." The Doctor muttered.

"What does it do?" Martha questioned, myself staying silent as I struggled to figure out what my head was trying to tell me.

" _No. Too soon. Not yet."_

"Chameleon Arch. Rewrites my biology. Literally changes every single cell in my body. I've set it to human." He put the pocket watch into the headset and sat down, pulling it on. "Now, the Tardis will take care of everything. Invent a life story for me, find me a setting and integrate me. Can't do the same for you two. You'll just have to improvise. I should have just enough residual awareness to let you both in."

"But hold on. If you're going to rewrite every single cell, isn't it going to hurt?"

"Oh yeah." He said. "It hurts." He then spotted me still holding my head. "You alright there, Riley?"

"Huh?" I looked up at him, whatever I was thinking flying right out of my mind. "Yeah… Yeah. I'm fine."

He nodded. "Alright. Wish me luck."

"Good luck." Martha whispered, before he turned it on, screaming loudly and making the two of us cringe before the Tardis settled down and our new adventure began.

* * *

 _Or so I thought._ I groaned, tugging at my collar as I sweated away in a thick wool suit, not pleased that—due to my short hair and lack of… more feminine qualities—I was being forced to act as a footman for _Mr. Smith_ , otherwise known as the late Doctor.

"Oi, I don't want to hear your groaning. Least you don't have to clean the floors with a rag and deal with the brats making fun."

I frowned over at Martha. "Yeah? Well least _you_ don't have to die in three layers of wool clothing and silently follow that idiot like a shadow should he _need_ something. Oh! And let's not forget the nightly strolls to the stream just to _bathe_!" I hissed back at her, before turning away. "I can't wait till those things are done following us. How long have we been here? You _know_ how I hate humans."

" _Too_ long."

"Right. God, what I wouldn't give to have the old Doctor back."

"You and me both." She muttered, opening the door and returning to her worried expression since we had come over after the Doctor had apparently fallen down the stairs. "Is he alright?!"

The Matron stood there looking appalled. " _Excuse me_ , Martha." She spotted me and gave me a frown as well. "Riley. It's hardly good form to enter a master's study without knocking."

"Sorry. Right, yeah." Martha hurried back to the door, rapping her knuckles on it as I snickered, before hurrying back in the room. "But is he alright? They said you fell down the stairs."

I nodded, coming over beside her. "We're only concerned, sir."

"Ah, eh, just a tumble. That's all." The Doctor replied, or rather, _John Smith_ replied.

"Have you checked for a concussion?" Martha questioned as I rolled my eyes and set about making some tea for the umpteenth time since we've been here.

"I _have_." The Matron replied. "And I dare say I know a lot more about it than you."

Martha nodded, though I watched her from the corner of my eye, knowing that she despised the Matron with a passion. "Sorry. I'll just tidy your things."

Martha went about doing such as I finished up the tea, passing the cup to Mr. Smith, who nodded gratefully at me and sipped it, speaking with us.

"I was just telling Ms. Redfern—Matron." He corrected. "Um, about my dreams. They are quite remarkable tales. Um, I keep imagining that I'm someone else and that I'm hiding."

"Hiding? In what way?" Ms. Redfern questioned as Martha and I glanced at one another.

"Um, eh… but once every now and then…" He chuckled. "Mm, this is gonna sound silly."

"Tell me."

He ran his tongue over his teeth. "I dream, quite often, that… that I have two hearts."

"Well then, I can be the judge of that." She replied, pulling out a stethoscope. "Let's find out."

She put it on one side of his chest, making me eye Martha who—as I have noticed recently—was rather jealous of the Matron, before she moved it to the other side of his chest; removing the stethoscope with a smile.

"I can confirm the diagnosis. Just one heart."

"Hm." He grunted with a tilt of his head.

"Singular." She continued.

"I have, um, I have written down some of these dreams in the form of fiction. Um… Not that it would be of any interest—"

"I would be very interested." She told him, surprising him.

"Well…" He got up, pulling out a book from a pile on his desk and flipping through the pages. "Um, I haven't shown it to anyone before."

He passed it to her and I mentally sighed, holding my hands behind my back and standing in the back of the room, listening silently.

"A journal of impossible things." She read, flipping through the pages as I glanced at the well done sketches from where I was. "Just look at these creatures. Such imagination!"

"It's become quite a hobby."

"But it's wonderful… And quite an eye for the pretty girls." The woman said, giving him a look as she found a sketch of a woman on one of the pages.

"Oh no. She's, uh, just an invention. This character, Rose, I call her. Rose… She seems to disappear later on."

More pages were turned and I noticed a little blue box dawn rather small on the next page.

"Oh, that's the box! The blue box. It's always there. Um, like a, um, a magic carpet. This… This fun little box that transports me to faraway places."

"Like a doorway?"

He nodded, though I could tell that that wasn't exactly what he thought of it as. "I sometimes think how magical life would be if stories like this were true."

"Mm, if only."

"All just a dream." He chuckled as a bell rang and I frowned, looking down out at the yard.

"But along with dreams there always comes nightmares."

"You're always such a downer, Riley. Cheer up!" He said, coming over and patting me roughly on the shoulder as the Matron set the book back down on his desk with a small smile.

"I best be going. Have to go check up on Jenkins again."

"Ah, but take the book!" He said passing it back to her.

"Oh, but I couldn't."

"No, please." He smiled. "I want you to read it. You know, um, tell me what you think."

She slowly smiled back and nodded, taking the book with her. "Alright. Thank you… John."

He grinned with a little wave as she headed out and I handed him the books he would need for the next class, before he did the same. Martha groaned and rushed out too and I sighed, heading out as well to perhaps find someplace quiet to sneak a drink or two as I had been for the past few nights. My headaches were getting worse, after all, and the pills were doing little to help.

I settled myself down in the servant's kitchen with a nice cup of whiskey that the cook had snuck out for me, us having become good companions for my duration here, though I was far from trusting her; hating every second I was stuck around these greedy humans. I rubbed my temples with a groan, trying to stop the voices ringing in my head as I struggled to figure out what my head's been trying to tell me this whole time. Everything seemed so familiar, but I couldn't place it and every time I tried, that voice whispered to me.

" _It's too soon. You can't. Not yet."_

The whispers though had very nearly grown into shouts and I struggled to keep my composure at times when the headaches struck violently. Grabbing my drink, I chugged it down, grimacing as the alcohol burned the back of my throat but enjoying the fact that my headache dulled ever so slightly. Between the headaches and the nightmares, I was worried that I would lose it while serving the Doctor's new persona. I was almost begging for these things chasing us to find us already just so I could take out some anger on them.

"And that can't happen too soon." I muttered under my breath, finishing off the whiskey and pulling my watch out from under my coat, ignoring the looks from the staff as my brown collar was revealed—having been hidden under my collar and tie.

 _Oh, just leave me be for once._ I complained, the watch seeming to pulsate in worry in my hand as I sighed and tucked it away; fixing my appearance once more and heading back out into the school halls, hoping to maybe pass some time in the library since I wasn't needed while Mr. Smith was off teaching. _I think I'll just tick to calling him that… Just until the Doctor returns. Because even though I don't trust him, I trust him more than this Smith fellow._

* * *

"Ooh, it's freezing out here! Why can't we have a drink inside the pub?" Martha complained as I snickered, hands tucked away in my pockets as she brought out her and her friend's hot drinks.

"I'd complain, but, oh, that's right! Three layers of suits!"

"Yeah, well, shut it."

I snickered, sipping my own drink which I had gotten earlier and relaxing, her friend answering her question.

"Now don't be ridiculous. You _do_ get these notions. It's all very well, those suffragettes, but that's London. That's miles away."

"But don't you just want to scream sometimes? Having to bow, scrape, and behave. Don't you just want to tell 'em?"

She smiled. "I don't know. Things must be different in your country."

"Yeah, well, they are. Thank God, we're not staying."

"You keep saying that."

"Just you wait. One more month and we're as free as the wind."

Her friend looked over at me. "You and your friend here? You never introduced us."

"Oh, well this is Riley. Riley, um…" She looked over at me and I just forced a smile on my face.

"Just Riley's fine."

Martha rolled her eyes when I didn't say much more than that, having gone back to drinking. "Don't mind him. He's not a people person."

"More like not a _human_ person." I grumbled, sipping once more only to nearly spit it out when Martha nudged my ribs harshly. "Oi!"

"Riley, this is Jenny."

"Mn." I grumbled, glaring at Martha as I went back to my drink, only to earn another hit to the ribs.

"Be nice!"

I ignored her, making her sigh before she turned back to Jenny with a sad expression.

"I wish you could come with me, Jenny. You'd _love_ it!"

"Where ya gonna go?" She asked, looking curious.

"Anywhere. Just look up there."

The three of us gazed up into the stars.

"Imagine you could go all the way out to the stars."

Jenny laughed. "You don't half say mad things!"

"That's where we're going. Into the sky, all the way out." Martha replied seriously.

"Hm." Jenny hummed, looking down at the table the same moment Martha and I spotted an orb of light flash in the sky.

"Did you see that?" Martha questioned.

"See what?" Jenny asked as I nodded silently, brows furrowed.

Martha stood up. "Did you see it though? Right up there. Just for a second."

"Martha, there's nothing' there." Jenny said, causing her to humph, though I knew we weren't imagining it.

Just then, the Matron came running up the drive, looking scared out of her wits as she looked up at the sky.

"Matron, are you alright?" Martha questioned also noticing her odd behavior.

"Did you see that? There's something in the woods. I-It was… this light!"

Mr. Smith walked out of the pub then, looking around in worry. "Anything wrong, ladies? Rather too cold to be standing around in the dark."

"There! Look, in the sky!" The Matron said, pointing up as a light flew across the dark; my frown growing.

"Oh, that's beautiful." Jenny said, though Martha was standing once more.

"All gone. Commonly known as a meteorite." Mr. Smith said, glancing over at the Matron smugly. "It's just rocks falling to the ground. That's all."

"Came down in the woods." The Matron said, still sounding a little frightened.

"No, no, no. No. They always look close when actually they're miles off. Nothing left but a cinder. Now, I should escort you back to the school." He said to her, making her smile before he turned to us. "Ladies? Sir?"

"No, we're fine, thanks." Martha said dully, though Jenny looked eager to go.

I shrugged, setting my cup down. "I'll escort them, sir. When they're ready."

"Then I shall bid you goodnight." He said with a slight bow, putting on his hat and leaving with the Matron.

Martha wasn't done yet, and waited until he was gone to speak with Jenny. "Jenny, where was that? On the horizon, where the light was headed?"

"That's by Cooper's Field." She said, before Martha started heading towards the drive. "You can't just run off! It's dark! You'll break a leg!"

I sighed, quickly finishing my drink and tugging my own hat on my head. "I'll get her. I trust you'll get back alright?" I asked, out of duty rather than actual caring.

She nodded. "No! I'll come with!"

I shrugged, grumbling under my breath. "Whatever."

The two of us chased her down out to an open field where there was absolutely nothing. Jenny tossed her hands up.

"There you are. Nothin' there. I told you so."

"And that's Cooper's Field?" Martha asked, not looking convinced, though I felt the same way.

"As far as the eye can see, and _no_ falling star. Now come on. I'm frozen to the bone. Let's go." She hissed through her teeth and I had half a mind to hand her my coat, but I felt my lips twitch up in a snarl at the thought of helping a human and kept to myself instead. "As your Mr. Smith says, 'Nothing to see'."

She started heading back and we followed, slightly disgruntled. The next morning, Martha had set out early to check in with the Tardis; though I had wanted too, but she said if we both disappeared, then there would be questions, so I reluctantly stayed behind.

"Tea?" I asked, and Mr. Smith nodded.

"That'd be nice. Thanks."

I heard a small 'thud' behind me and saw that Mr. Smith just picked up the watch containing his old self and plopped it back onto the mantle. _That watch… why is that tugging at bells inside my head_. A sharp pain tore through my skull and I groaned, clutching my head and allowing the cup and saucer I was carrying to drop to the floor with a crash.

" _Too soon! Too soon! Not yet! You can't!"_

"Riley! Look what you did!" Mr. Smith scolded, before seeing my pained expression. "Wait, are you alright?"

I nodded, waving my free hand at him as I knelt down to clean up the mess. "Fine. Just _peachy_. Headache, is all."

"Well, be careful. I'm off." He said, face scrunched up in slight concern before he got his things on and headed out the door, leaving me behind to try and keep the headache at bay.

Taking a chance, I took off my watch and set it down on the mantle as well, returning to clean the floor without my waist coat and a loosening my tie and shirt collar since Mr. Smith wasn't to return for a little while more. That, and the Tardis was kind enough to make sure he was never too harsh on Martha and me, unlike the Matron and other higher members of this society.

"Stupid humans." I grumbled to myself as I scrubbed at the floor. "Couldn't just stop with the physical torture. Nah, had to make me serve them too. Punky little brats. Doctor included. I'll be sure to show him a thing or two. Accidentally bump him out of the Tardis doors when we're in the time vortex or something. Just a little 'whoops' and off he flies."

I smirked to myself as I continued to think up ways to 'accidentally' get my revenge when the door opened and the Matron stepped in, catching my eye as I rolled them up towards the ceiling, preparing for the whining thing she called scolding.

"What are you doing?!"

"Cleaning a spill, _ma'am_."

She frowned. "I'm not stupid. Mr. Smith sent me up here saying you were complaining of a headache and asked me to check on you, but I doubt he expected you to be in this state of unruliness."

"Sorry for being unruly." I muttered quietly, finishing my scrubbing of the floor and discarding the glass into the waste bin nearby along with my ruined handkerchief. "I don't need your assistance. It was just a headache."

"If it was just a headache, then Mr. Smith wouldn't have worried enough to personally find me right before his class to send me up here." She snapped back as I scoffed through my nose and grabbed my waistcoat. "Now sit down and let me get this over with. Or should I tell him that you didn't allow me this, and have _him_ discipline you?"

" _Fine_." I snapped, dropping down into a chair and crossing my arms over my chest, not the least bit pleased about this as she took out her stethoscope and checked my heart rate.

"Heart rate's normal."

"Could've told you that myself." I complained, earning a glare as she went on.

"Take a deep breath and hold it."

I did, letting it out when she said to, before she frowned, glancing at me and then shifting the stethoscope to the right side of my chest.

"That's odd."

"What? Am I dying?" I asked sarcastically.

She shook her head, removing the stethoscope and packing it back into her bag. "No. I just thought I heard something… Like an echo of your heart, but it was my mistake."

I frowned in confusion. _An echo? What, like a second heart or something? But that would mean—_ I was cut off as that sharp pain returned, making me hiss in pain and clench my eyes shut; a hand on my forehead.

" _Not yet! Not yet!"_

"Riley? Are you alright, Riley?"

I scowled up at the Matron, hand still covering half my face. "I'm _fine_. I don't need your help."

"Shame." She frowned back, digging through her bag and shoving a bottle at me. "Then, I don't expect any thanks for giving this to you."

With that, she left, leaving me growling in frustration until I shouted and slammed my fist down on Mr. Smith's desk. My shoulders shook as I tried to keep my anger under control, clenching my eyes shut and taking a deep breath through my nose as I had done thousands of times back when I had been captured. _Calm down. Just… calm down._ The anger faded and I slowly leaned forward in my seat, burying my face in my hands. _Please… Just calm down._

* * *

 **(will be calling Riley 'he' for this portion)**

* * *

 _Mr. Smith_ sat at his desk, eyes focused on the resting Riley who slept soundly in a chair off in a corner of the room. He would've awoken him, but he figured the young man could do with some rest after the mishap this morning. _He's never fumbled something like that before. Or anything, really. He_ does _have a rude way of speaking though. Doesn't seem to like people much at all, actually._ Mr. Smith couldn't help but smile a little though, as Riley's head dipped down and he grumbled in his sleep. He couldn't think about him long though, when a knock came to his study door. Getting up to answer it, he was slightly surprised to see one of his students there.

"You told me to come and collect the book, sir." The boy, Timothy Latimer, said; reminding Mr. Smith.

"Good lad. Yes. Yes! The Definite Account of Mafeking by Aitchison Price. Where did I put it?" He said, moving into the room to search through the books on his desk. "And I wanted a little word, though keep quiet. My footman is asleep." He gestured over to Riley briefly, confusing Latimer.

"Shouldn't he be working?"

"Nah. He needs a little break. Wasn't feeling well this morning. Though _you_ , Timothy. Your marks aren't quite good enough."

"I'm top ten in my class, sir."

"Now, be honest, Timothy. You should be the very top. You're a clever boy. You seem to be hiding it. Where is that book?" He muttered the last bit to himself, moving over to the small hall of books in his study to search there, leaving Latimer scanning the room curiously. "And I know why. Keeping your head low avoids the mockery of your classmates. But no man should hide himself, don't you think?"

"Yes, sir." Latimer said, before spotting a couple of watches on the mantle.

"You're clever. Be proud of it. Use it."

The boy picked them both up, one in each hand as they whispered to him.

" _Time Lord. Hide yourself."_

" _Not yet. You can't. Too soon."_

" _The secret lies within. I'm trapped. I'm kept inside the cogs."_

Latimer opened that watch first, the golden glow coming from it lighting up his face.

" _In the dark, waiting. Always waiting."_

" _Hide us. You must hide us."_

Latimer closed it and went to open the second, but spotted Mr. Smith and quickly shoved both away in his pocket as Mr. Smith came over with the book.

"Fascinating details about the siege. Really quite remarkable." He then noticed the panicked looking Latimer. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, sir. Fine, sir."

"Right then. Good. And remember, use that brain of yours."

" _Power of a Time Lord."_

" _Hide us. Too soon."_

Latimer's vision shifted to the Doctor using his sonic screwdriver, before shifting back, Mr. Smith looking at him strangely.

"You're really not looking yourself, old chap. Anything bothering you?"

"No, sir. Thank you, sir." The boy nodded and hurried out of the room, leaving a confused Mr. Smith behind as he hurried back to the dormitory.

Once there, he sat on his bed, brushing a finger over the one watch and opening it as it spoke to him.

" _You are not alone. Keep me hidden."_

Latimer continued to look into the watch though, seeing the creatures that the Doctor has met, before snapping it shut. His eyes shifted over to the other watch and he picked that one up, putting the other in his pocket.

" _Too soon. You can't."_ The watch whispered, making Latimer wonder if it was like the other and he popped it open.

* * *

I snapped right up, a feeling of dread washing over me as I quickly scanned the room. Mr. Smith spotted me and walked over, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"You alright? Nightmare?"

I ignored him, standing and pushing past him, spinning around the room in search of what was causing my unease, only for it to stop as a bell was rung outside.

"Riley?"

I turned to him quickly, looking him over before shaking my head and pulling a hand through my hair. "Sorry. I just… had a really bad feeling all of a sudden. You best get to your next class, Mr. Smith. You're in charge of the firing range today."

"Right. If you're sure—"

"Yes. I'm fine."

"Alright then." He nodded towards me. "Best clean yourself up a bit if you're going out though. You'll give me a bad name."

"Apologies." I bit out, bowing my head as he nodded back and headed out.

The sound of gunfire started to fill the air as I adjusted my tie and started to button up my shirt, lips turning down in a snarl as I had flashbacks to my own wartime.

" _No, don't! Don't shoot! They're unarmed!"_

" _They are enemies! Fire!"_

" _No!"_

I closed my eyes to calm myself, reaching for my watch, when I suddenly remembered I had taken it off earlier and forgotten about it. Sighing, I went over to the mantel to grab it only to find, not only the Doctor's watch gone, but mine as well.

"No… No, no, no, no, _no_! This can't be happening!" I half-shouted, searching everywhere for it but finding no trace.

I searched and search for what seemed like hours, until Mr. Smith returned, giving me a worried look.

"Riley? What's going on? You appear flustered and you _still_ haven't fixed that messy appearance!"

"Where is it?" I muttered, before turning to him and grabbing the lapels of his coat. "Where is it?! Where's my watch?!"

"I don't know _what_ you are talking about! Now get your hands off me and get out! You are dismissed, Riley!"

I slammed his back up against the wall, ignoring his orders as I growled lowly in my throat. "Now you listen here, you bumbling idiot. That watch is the most important thing in my life and now it's missing. This is _your_ bloody study so you must know what happened to it. And if I don't find it soon, there's not going to be anything to stop me from ripping this town apart to find it. Not even the _Doctor_."

A loud gasp came from the doorway and I barely gave the Matron a glance as I shook the stunned Mr. Smith violently.

"Tell me where it is!"

A hand grabbed my upper arm, catching me off guard enough for the Matron to pull me away from Mr. Smith and slap me hard across the face.

"You release him now and get _out_ , Riley."

I rounded on her, taking pride as she stepped back at the sight of my glare. "You think you can tell me what to do, _human_?! Fifty years wasn't enough for you?!"

"Riley!"

I turned towards Mr. Smith only for a fist to knock me back into his desk, my head ringing and jaw throbbing. Mr. Smith looked down at his fist in surprise before pulling the Matron close and looking confident.

"I will not have you speak to the Matron like that, nor myself, Riley. Now get _out._ "

I slowly got up, having to use the desk to get me on my feet, before heading out of the room silently. Once outside with the door closed behind me, I slammed a fist against the wall, ignoring the cracks that formed under it and resuming my search for my watch. _I_ cannot _lose it now._

* * *

I searched and searched, despair rolling off me in waves the later it got. It wasn't until night had fallen that I left the school and headed back to the Tardis. _I couldn't find it. I couldn't find it anywhere._ My head throbbed, a latent reminded of Mr. Smith's punch and the Matron's slap. The Tardis hummed in worry, but I shook my head.

"There's nothing you can do. If I don't find it soon…" I trialed off, feeling that feeling of anger and a deep dark sorrow building up within me, knowing that I would snap and the last time that happened…

 _I don't even want to think of it._ I dropped my head in my hands, sitting in a chair the Tardis popped up for me, just as I heard the door open and some ruffling.

"You're not going to find it here." I said to Martha, knowing it was her without having to lift my head since—despite being in 1913—she continued to wear the same perfume as always.

"I-I have to try." She then paused. "Wait. What are you doing in here? Shouldn't you be—Oh my God! What happened?!"

She hurried over the moment I lifted my head to show the bruise on the side of my face that was already swelling.

"You look like someone punched you!"

I pulled my face away from her, standing up and making for the door. "Yeah. Someone did."

"And shouldn't you be with the Doctor?"

I hesitated in opening the door, remaining silent as she caught on.

"Oh… Oh, no. He didn't! Why would he do that?!"

"Because he's _human_." I snapped at her over my shoulder. "And all humans are the same. They only care for themselves. I lost the most important thing to me and he didn't even bat an eye."

I slammed the door and left, walking out in the chilly air and taking out the bottle of pills the Tardis had given me, taking one.

"Wait! Riley! I'm sure he didn't mean it! He doesn't know what he's doing!" Martha called out after me, moving to stand in front of me, stopping me. "Please. Just… help me, at least. If we find his watch, we might find what you lost too. Please, Riley."

I frowned at her, but I knew she wouldn't leave me alone if I didn't help so I reluctantly agreed. "Fine. But I'll tell you exactly what I told him." I got in her face, making her take a hesitant step back as I snarled. "I will _tear_ this town apart and everyone in it if I don't find what I'm looking for."

She slowly nodded as I marched past her, the two of us heading straight for the party we knew Mr. Smith was at, to find the two watches. _And mine better be there, or we're going to have a problem._

"Jenny, um, I think Jenny has been possessed or something by these things." Martha mumbled as we walked.

I took in a deep breath, trying to calm myself for now and think, skimming through my head to try and figure things out. "Keep going. Tell me everything."

"Well, you weren't there, but there were these… these things that attacked us. They know what the Doctor smells like, but they weren't close enough to smell or see me. If they saw us, then we would've already been found."

"Right. Hunters, he said. What else, what else… The watches. He said they knew the scent of a Time Lord and he locked that up in the watch, right? So if that watch was opened, then they would catch a sniff. These hunters waited this long and I doubt it was just because they were waiting for a chance to get at us, or they'd have done it already."

"Then what changed?" Martha frowned then. "And did you say 'watches'?"

"Yes, I said watches." I grumbled. "I lost my father's watch"

"But I thought—"

"I have no memories! I have small glimpses, but that's it! That watch is the only thing I have that reminds me who I am, okay?! Now's not the time for my life story, we've got to focus!"

"Sorry." She grumbled as I sighed and pulled a hand through my hair.

"Sorry. It keeps me calm and without it, I get touchy." Shaking my head, I waved my hand about. "Anyway, back to these… things. They didn't pop up until now because they didn't know about him until now. Whoever took the watch or watches, probably opened them at a point."

"Opened _them_?"

I nodded, a frown marring my features. "Yeah. I had a bad feeling this afternoon. That must have been when he opened it."

"Wait. You're saying you can sense when the watches are opened?" She asked in disbelief.

I shook my head. "Only mine."

Her eyes widened. "A-Are you saying that your watch is—"

"No." I frowned over at her. "I'm not saying anything. But if that watch gets opened, then I can't tell you what's going to happen. Got it?"

"Is… Is it bad?"

"I don't know. And I hate not knowing." I muttered just as we headed up the steps and the man at the entrance waved a finger at us.

"Oh, staff entrance I think, Miss, Sir."

"Yeah? Well think again, mate." Martha snapped at him as we both stormed past him and into the village hall.

She caught site of the Matron as I scanned the room, searching for odd things out and she tapped my shoulder the moment I spotted a young girl witting alone at a table.

"I'm going to go talk to the Matron. You search for the watches."

"That's my plan."

We separated as I searched around, picking up a glass of champagne to calm the frustration trying to well up in me again. _Something odd. Different. Whatever these things are, they're alien to this planet. They can't quite fit in yet, even if they take human form._ The only thing I could find was the little girl and Martha, as Mr. Smith headed her way looking upset. I noticed the girl was watching them as well and an unsettling feeling made its way into my stomach as I decided to head over towards Martha as she pulled out the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

"Do you know what this is? Name it. Go on! Name it."

Mr. Smith stared at it oddly, as did the Matron and I debated on when I should jump in, catching sight of the girl still watching.

"John, what is that silly thing?" The Matron asked, but Mr. Smith couldn't answer. "John?"

Martha gave him the okay and he took it from her, looking over it as if trying to remember something as she spoke. "You're not John Smith. You're called the—"

 _Now._ I poked my head in with a smile, snatching the sonic from Mr. Smith and tucking it into my pocket.

"Now, Martha let's not confuse him just yet."

She frowned at me, angry for interrupting. "What do you mean? We have to!" She turned to Mr. Smith, ignoring me. "The man in your journal, he's real! He's y—"

"Me." I spouted, covering her mouth with my hand, mentally feeling sick for touching a human's mouth. "Yes, right. Keep that a secret now. Got some things coming after me and—"

I was cut off as there was a loud thud behind us and a portly man walked in shouting at everyone.

"There will be silence! All of you!"

Scarecrows started walking in and I dropped my hand from Martha's mouth as I silently wished I kept my mouth shut moments ago.

"I said, silence!"

"Mister Clarke, what's going on?!" One man questioned as Mr. Clarke reached in his pocket and shot him, vaporizing him on the spot and sending the people in the room into screams.

I quickly turned to Mr. Smith, seriously. "Smith. Listen. Everything I just said? Forget it. All of it. Don't say anything."

A younger boy came up then, a student from the school, though I didn't recognize him.

"We asked for _silence_!"

"Actually, you demanded it, but who am I to say that loudly." I muttered under my breath, earning an elbow in the ribs, courtesy of Martha Jones.

"Now then, we have a few questions for Mr. Smith."

The little girl from before stepped forward and I mentally patted myself on the back for catching her as the odd one out.

"No, better than that. The footman. He's the Doctor. I heard them talking."

"You took human form." The student said, make me raise a brow in pretend confusion.

"Who, me?" I gestured to myself. "Yeah, sorry. I've always been human."

Mr. Smith stepped forward. "Of course he's human. He was _born_ human. As were you, Baines. And Jenny! A-And you, Mr. Clarke. W-What's going on? This is madness!"

"Ooh, and human brains too. Simple, thick and dull."

I winked at him. "Oh, not quite." I tapped my temple. "I'm the last thing from thick, mind you. Human or not."

Jenny spoke up then. "But he's no good like this."

"We need a Time Lord." Mr. Clarke said after.

"Easily done." Baines stepped forward and pulled out a gun, pointing it at me as the crowd gasped. "Change back."

"Yeah." I drawled out, rolling my eyes and being extremely calm for someone with a gun pointed at them "About that. I don't really know what you're talking about."

"Change back!" He ordered and I shifted my gaze to his, eyes hard.

"I'm the _last_ person you should be ordering and pointing a gun at, mate."

"Get off me!" Martha yelled, drawing our attention to her as Jenny put a gun to her head as well.

"She's your friend, isn't she? Doesn't this scare you enough to change back?"

I shrugged, putting my hands in my pockets. "Not really."

"Riley!" Mr. Smith shouted, but I ignored him.

"Riley, I'll get you for this!" Martha complained as I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before."

"Wait a minute." Jenny looked over a Martha before back at Mr. Smith. "The maid told me about Riley and Mr. Smith. And Mr. Smith and the Matron. That woman, there."

"Then let's have you!" Mr. Clarke called out, grabbing the Matron as I sighed.

Blaine smirked. "Have you enjoyed it, Doctor? Being human? Has it taught you wonderful things? Are you better, richer, wiser? Then let's see you answer this. Which one of them do you want us to kill? Maid or Matron? Your friend or Mr. Smith's lover? _Your_ choice."

"Really now? Haven't you figured it out yet?" I snapped my gaze to them, eyes ice cold. "I don't _care_ about some measly humans. Kill them."


	3. Chapter 3: Family of Blood

"Kill them. Go on! Shoot them!" I mocked with a grin, waving my hands. "Kill them all! They mean nothing to me!"

Just then, I felt something change in the room, just as the group of aliens did.

"It's him."

"Alright!" Martha shouted, having switched roles with her attacker, now pointing the gun at Baines. "One more move and I shoot!"

"Oh, the maid is _full_ of fire." He mocked.

"And you can shut up!" She pointed the gun up at the ceiling and fired, pointing it back at him as Mr. Clarke cautioned Baines.

"Careful, son of mine. This is all for you so that you can live forever."

"Shoot you down?" Baines questioned, raising his own gun.

"Try it. We'll die together."

"Would you really pull the trigger?… Looks too scared."

"Scared and holding a gun's a good combination. Do you want to risk it?"

Baines looked over at me as I yawned. "I wouldn't and even if she doesn't…" I smirked devilishly at him. "I'll be _glad_ to."

They all lowered their guns as the Matron returned to Mr. Smith's side and Martha spoke.

"Doc—Mr. Smith, get everyone out. There's a door at the side." She nodded towards it. "It's over there. Go on! Do it, Mr. Smith. I mean _you_."

The Matron took control then. "Do what she said. Everybody out, now! Don't argue, Mr. Jackson. They're mad. That's all we need to know. Susan, Miss Cooper, outside! All of you!"

She managed to get everyone out with Mr. Smith's help and as he was getting the last person out, Martha caught him as he hesitated.

"And you. Go on. Just shift."

"And what about you two?"

"Mr. Smith, I think you should escort the Matron to safety, don't you?" I smirked. "Things are gonna get messy."

Once he was gone, Martha shoved Jenny with them as Mr. Clarke raised his gun.

"Don't try anything! I'm warning you, or funny boy gets it."

"She's almost brave, this one." Baines said, the group stepping forward.

"I should've taken _her_ form. Much more fun. So much spirit." Jenny quipped as Martha ran into me, I myself covering her hands on the gun as I spoke quietly.

"Give me the gun and go."

"I can't do that!" She harshly whispered back. "They think you're the Doctor! They're going to kill you!"

"Martha, something you don't know about me. I've lived far longer than you think. _Long_ before I was caught. I've served in so many wars, you'd die just thinking about them and that only continued _after_ I was caught. So trust me when I say I can handle this."

"The Doctor wouldn't want this."

"And I'm not him."

She refused to let go of the gun though, and the way she held it made it impossible for me to attempt to pull the trigger if anything were to happen and the way things were going, something was going to happen.

"What happened to Jenny? Is she gone?" Martha questioned.

"She is consumed. Her body's mine."

"You mean she's dead."

"Yes. And she went with precious little dignity. All that—ah!—screaming." Jenny mocked just before we were both grabbed by a scarecrow.

"Get the gun!" Baines shouted, giving Martha and I a chance to escape and rush out of the building.

"If you'd just let me have it, I could've ended it right there!" I scolded her as we ran outside, where Mr. Smith was still standing with the Matron.

"The Doctor wouldn't have wanted that! He hates violence!" She shouted at me before rushing past Mr. Smith. "Don't just stand there, move! God, you're rubbish as a human! Come on!"

Mr. Smith grabbed the Matron and we all ran back to the school, myself struggling to catch my breath after only a few moments of running.

"Are you alright?!" The Matron called out, pulling Mr. Smith to a halt as I put a hand to my throat, gasping for air.

"Go… Don't worry about me… Go!"

"I can't just leave you!"

"Che." I clicked my tongue, glaring at her. "Ignorant woman… I just tried to sell you out… to a bunch of aliens with a gun to your head… Leave me."

She frowned. "We can talk about that later. John! Can you help?"

Mr. Smith came over, hesitating in helping me before the Matron sent him a look and he pulled my arm over his shoulder, helping me back to the academy. Once inside, he pulled the gate closed and rushed inside, ringing the bell loudly.

"What are you doing?!" Martha called out as I clasped my hands over my ears, the noise ringing far too loudly for my liking.

"Maybe one man can't fight them, but this school teaches us to stand together. Take arms! Take arms!" He shouted as the students came down.

"Oh yeah!" I shouted over the noise at Martha. "The Doctor would _never_ use violence! He just has little brats do it for him!"

"You can't do that!" She shouted up at him as he yelled back.

"You want me to fight, don't you? Take arms! Take arms!"

One of the older boys came down the stairs confused. "I say, sir. What's the matter?"

"Enemy at the door, Hutchinson. Enemy at the door. Take arms!"

The boys began passing around rifles and Martha continued to badger Mr. Smith as the Matron made her way over to me with her medical bag.

I frowned at her from my place on the floor in a corner nearby, out of the way but still trying to catch my breath. "Leave me _alone_."

She frowned. "Not until I'm sure you're alright."

I groaned loudly. "Ugh! You stupid humans are never satisfied!"

"Why do you keep doing that?" She questioned, pulling out her stethoscope to check my heart rate. "You keep calling us humans, but aren't you one yourself? Those things, they said you were… Heart rate's a bit fast."

"Yours would be too, if you were just running from a group of aliens who want to kill you." I grumbled back as she checked my breathing.

"Your breathing is a little raspy too. Do you have asthma?"

"You're the doctor, you tell me." I muttered, not really knowing the answer to that.

She sighed. "And you never answered my question. Why do you hate us so much when you are a human?"

"Because humans have done many things that I do not appreciate and they have never once given me a reason to care for their lives."

"Even Mr. Smith?" She questioned, making me go silent just as someone else made the room go silent.

"What in thunder's name is this?! Before I devise an excellent and endless series of punishments for each and every one of you, could someone explain very _simply_ and _immediately_ exactly what is going on?"

It was the Headmaster and, luckily, Mr. Smith was more than willing to explain the current situation.

"Headmaster, I have to report the school is under attack."

" _Really_? Is that so? Perhaps you and I should have a word in private."

"N-No, I promise you, sir. I was in the village with Matron. It's Baines, sir. Jeremy Baines and Mister Clark from Oakham Farm. They've gone mad, sir. They've got guns. They've already _murdered_ people in the village. I saw it happen."

He turned towards the Matron and I. "Matron, is that so?"

"I'm afraid it's true, sir."

"Murder on our own soil?"

"I saw it. Yes." She nodded.

"Perhaps you did well then, Mr. Smith. What makes you think the danger's coming here?"

"Well, sir, t-they said—"

"Baines threatened Riley, sir. Said he'd follow him. We don't know why." The Matron supplied, causing the Headmaster to glance at me on the ground before back at Mr. Smith.

"Very well. You boys, remain on guard. Mr. Snell, telephone for the police. Mr. Philips, with me. We shall investigate."

"No! But it's not safe out there." Martha said, trying to stop him, but it was no use.

"Mr. Smith, it seems your favorite servant is giving me advice. You will control her, sir."

I sighed, forcing myself to stand up and earning a disapproving look from the Matron, as she did the same. We both caught sight of Martha running out though, and quickly chased after her; I myself taking some of the pills from the Tardis again as the Matron's back was turned.

"Are we looking for the watches again?!" I shouted after her. "That's all I really came for!"

"Shut up, Riley!" She scolded. "I-I'm fed up with you and your stupid watch! The Doctor is in trouble!"

"Oh, did you tell him already?! Spoil the fun?!"

I called back, making her stop and prod me in the chest with her finger.

"Don't you _dare_ call this fun."

I snarled at her as well. "Yeah? Well sorry for keeping him _safe_. That's what you wanted, right? Greedy pest."

"You—Yeah, so what?! I told him! Doesn't matter though, does it? They're still chasing after _you_."

We both silently glared at one another before the Matron poked her head in. "Um, hello. Still here. What'd you mean you told Mr. Smith?"

I turned away as Martha explained. " _He's_ the Doctor. Not Riley. Riley was just—"

"Protecting him."

I could feel her eyes on my back, but kept my ears out for the quiet whispers of my watch. "I thought we were in a hurry."

"Right. Yeah. Come on." Martha said, hurrying down the hall once more, though the Matron came up beside me.

"But you hate humans, right?"

I stayed silent, frustration building up once more.

"So why protect John?"

I finally gave in. "Because he saved me. He was the only person to save me and I owe him for that."

We rushed into Mr. Smith's study and began digging through things once more, though I was doing it half-heartedly, already having done this once today in search of my own watch.

"I know it sounds mad, but when the Doctor became human, he took the alien part of himself and he stored it inside the watch. It's not really a watch, it just looks like a watch." Martha explained after the Matron asked what we were looking for.

"And alien means… not from abroad, I take it." She then turned to me. "And what about your watch? Is it the same as his? Are you… some sort of alien too?"

"No. It's been tested." I said with a slight downward twitch of my lips. "I'm completely human, but whatever's in my watch… It can't be anything good."

"But the Doctor, Mr. Smith, he—"

"The man you call John Smith, he was born on another world."

"A different species."

"Yeah."

"Then tell me. In this fairy tale, Riley already told me his story, but… who are you?"

Martha looked down, returning to the searching that she'd momentarily stopped. "Just a friend. I'm not… I mean, you haven't got a rival, as much as I might—Just his friend."

"And human, I take it?"

"Human." She and I confirmed, though I spat it out, earning a frown from her as she continued. "Don't worry. And more than that, I just don't follow him around. I'm training to be a doctor. Not an alien doctor, a proper doctor. A doctor of medicine."

"Well that certainly is nonsense. Women might train to be doctors, but hardly a skivvy and hardly one of _your_ color." The Matron said.

"Ohh, you did it now." I muttered under my breath, leaning back against the wall to watch the show.

"Oh, do you think?" She held up her hand, pointing as she spoke. "Bones of the hand. Carpal bones, proximal row. Scaphoid, lunate, triquetal, pisiform. Distal row. Trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, hamate. Then the metacarpal bones extending in three distinct phalanges. Proximal, middle, distal."

The Matron began to look a little flustered now. "You read that in a book."

"Yes!" Martha laughed. "To pass my exams! Can't you see? This is true."

The Matron scoffed out her nose, grabbing her book. "I must go."

"No! If we find that watch, we can stop them." Martha said, trying to compromise, but the Matron was a stubborn woman.

"Those boys are going to fight. I might not be a doctor, but I'm still their nurse. They need me." She rushed out then and I sighed, clapping my hands.

"Well then! Now that that's over with, what say we go out into the courtyard and check with some of the boys, eh?"

Martha sent me a look. "What? Why would we—"

"Because the only people who have access to this office is the Doctor, the Matron, us, and the students. They're the only ones left, so one of them must have it. That, and they'll need my help." I smirked at her with a wink. "Can't let the boys fight now, eh?"

* * *

 **(will refer to Riley as 'she' here)**

* * *

Latimer had escaped the courtyard, abandoning his fellow students to sit on the floor beside the stairs, looking down at the couple of watches in his hands and questioning them.

"What do I do?… What do I do? What do I do?"

" _Beware!"_

" _Hide us!"_

The watches cried out to him.

"Beware of what?"

" _Her!"_ They both said, making him look up and hide the watches behind his back as he stood, seeing the little girl from before further down the hall.

"Keep away."

"Who are you?" She asked, though Latimer stayed cautious.

"I saw you at the dance. You were with that family. You're one of them."

"What are you hiding?" She asked.

"Nothing."

"What have you got there?"

"Nothing." He repeated.

"Show me, little boy."

"I reckon whatever you are, you're still in the shape of a girl. How strong is she, do you think?" He questioned, his mind racing. "Does she really want to see this?"

He held up the watches, opening them both and shining them in her eyes, making her run at the vision of the Doctor and another, fires burning behind them. Elsewhere, Baines had gotten word of this and Riley had perked up, eyes scanning the windows of the school with a loaded rifle at the ready. _That feeling again. Whoever it is opened the watches. That means—_

"Prepare for attack!" She called out, drawing eyes of the people around her, who became more frantic.

Sure enough, not moments later the doors began to rattle and she aimed her rifle at the door with a finger on the trigger. The moment the scarecrows came through, guns went off, hers and the young boys around them, but not once did Mr. Smith fire a shot. Once the scarecrows were all down, the Headmaster checked them.

"They're straw. Like he said, straw."

"Then no one's dead, sir? We killed no one?"

"Your right there." She said, standing up as she heard footsteps approach, a little girl steeping forward.

"You child, come out of the way. Come into the school."

Riley wasn't pleased though and lifted her rifle at the girl, shocking him.

"What are you doing?! Don't aim that at a child! Mr. Smith, control your footman!"

"Only an idiot would say that, after not knowing what's hiding within her." She growled, gun still aimed as the man tried to take it from her, only to find him unable to budge the gun from her grip even an inch.

"Drop your weapon, Riley! I will not have it!"

Martha came out then though, calling out to him. "Mr. Rocastle! Please don't go near her!"

"You were told to be quiet." He told her, trying to move the gun again, but to no avail.

"Just listen to me. She's _part_ of it. Matron, tell him."

"I think that. I don't know. I think you should stay back, Headmaster."

"Mr. Smith." Martha called out, pulling him out of his train of thoughts to try and convince the Headmaster.

"She was, she was with, with Baines in the village."

The man ignored their warnings and approached the girl, Riley's sights still trained on her form until the Headmaster blocked her shot, making her mutter a curse and put the weapon down.

"Mr. Smith, I've seen many strange sights this night, but there is no cause on God's Earth that would allow me to see this child in the field of battle, sir. Come with me." He said, trying to help the girl.

"You're funny."

"I agree." Riley said after her. "No child on the field of battle. Please. This whole courtyard is filled with children."

He glared back at her, but her expression was blank and he turned back to the girl with a smile. "That's right. Now take my hand."

"So funny." She pulled out a gun and vaporized him right on the spot.

" _Now_ , who's gonna shoot me? Any of you? _Really_?!"

"Oh, I'll do it." Riley said with a wicked smirk, aiming at her once more, but Mr. Smith spoke.

"Put down your guns."

"But, sir, the Headmaster…" A boy said, not knowing what to do and confused by his actions as he put down his own, unfired, weapon.

"I'll not see this happen. Not anymore. You will retreat in an orderly fashion back through the school. Hutchinson, lead the way."

"But sir." The boy looked over as Baines entered the courtyard.

"I said, lead the way."

"Well, go on then. _Run_!" He shot up in the air, making them scatter, but Riley kept her eye on them both, gun still raised.

* * *

"Give me one good reason, Martha, _Mr. Smith_ , why I shouldn't put them both down right now."

Mr. Smith couldn't give me an answer, tongue tied at the moment, but Martha gripped my shoulder tightly.

"Because if you killed them both right now, he would _never_ forgive you."

I chewed on that for a second, before reluctantly tossing the rifle aside and helping direct the kids out of the school with the others. At a point though, I felt it again, that sense of dread and my eyes snapped up to the ceiling.

"He's upstairs." I grumbled, but paused to think before I made any rash moves or alerted the others.

 _He's smart. He hasn't been caught yet and he's only opened them a few times, probably when he's in a pinch. A smart kid wouldn't have been out in the courtyard during all of that. He would've been hiding. Thinking. He may know what we're planning but he may not, so he'll probably make an escape. He's upstairs and opened it, so he knows coming down the stairs is a no go, so that only leaves—_

"The trees. He's climbing out the window." I muttered before quickly bolting past Martha and the others, stopping and turning to look at the outside of the school.

"Riley! What are you doing?!"

"Mr. Smith, where is the window to the boys dormitory on the top floor?" I questioned and he hesitantly looked up as well.

"O-On the other side. But what does that—"

"Thanks!" I shouted, hurrying off as Martha called after me. "Riley!"

"Sorry! I may have found the watches! Go on! I'll catch up!"

I hurried off, dashing through the woods and mentally begging my body to hold out until I find the boy with the watches. Luckily, I found him, looking a little lost, but hidden away nonetheless. Hurrying up to him, I grabbed a hold of his arm, covering his mouth to keep him from calling out as I shushed him.

"Shh! Stay quiet. I don't know how close they are." I removed my hand with a grimace, wiping it on my trousers.

"R-Riley. The footman, but what—"

"You have them, right?"

He took a hesitant step back. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"The watches, boy." I said, lowering my voice as I quickly glanced around. "Look, I know you don't trust me, but I'm with the Doctor, okay? You were at the dance, right? You should know that I'm safe. I can hide you. Help you."

"You wanted to let everyone die. I-I saw you."

I groaned, dragging a hand down my face. "Okay, hold on. What's your name? There's so many brats running around that school I can't keep track of them all."

"Timothy. Timothy Latimer."

"Okay, Latimer. Listen. I'm old, okay? Older than you would believe. So being trapped with humans for that long is a pain. I've been beaten and bullied and tested on and mistreated and even turned into a weapon, okay? So even you can understand that my compassion for humans is little to none. But tell me. Did any humans die by my hand that night?"

"No, sir."

I waved my hand. "Drop the sir bit. Anyway, no one died because of me. I don't go out of my way to kill humans. I _do_ go out of my way to annoy them and anger them, but that's all in good fun." I ruffled my hair, messing it up. "Gah! I'm getting off topic. Look. I'll take you somewhere safe. But right now, you have to promise me that you'll give me and the Doctor the watches."

He hesitantly looked down at them and back up. "But how can I trust you? How do I know you're not one of those things?"

I sighed, closing my eyes and listening, telling him to do the same. "Do you hear that? The whispers?"

" _Not yet. Too soon. Hide us."_

I repeated them and his eyes opened in surprise as I smirked. "See? Now come on. Let's hurry."

We started running and I took a deep breath, trying to catch a hint of Martha's perfume, but when I caught another scent, I quickly shoved Latimer forward, just as a green laser shot at us, catching my upper arm. I pretended to be vaporized, falling to the ground with a fake cry of pain, and covered myself and Latimer up in leaves as we heard the family search around before heading the other way. Once I couldn't hear them, I pulled him up with my good arm and rushed us along again.

"W-Wait! But how come you're not—"

"Vaporized? First off, it only skimmed me. Second—" I grimaced, pulling a hand away from the wound to show it slowly spreading. "I am, but at a much slower rate."

"W-We've got to get you to a doctor then!"

I shook my head. "Not quite. There's only one Doctor who can fix this and he's in a bit of a pickle unless we can get that watch to him."

We finally caught Martha's perfume and I leaned up against the door frame of the small cottage as Latimer knocked. It took a while, before I pounded on the door a little harder.

"Martha, Martha let me in!" I joked, hearing a groan before the door opened and she looked over at Latimer in shock as he held out the two watches.

"I brought you this."

She let him in and I came in as well, keeping any pain off my face and sending Latimer a look that said to keep quiet. He nodded and handed Martha the Doctor's watch; handing me my own which I accepted with a long sigh, sitting down in a corner to rest and relax after a good day worth of frustration building up. Martha held out the watch to Mr. Smith, but he didn't look too good.

"Hold it."

"I won't."

" _Please_. Just hold it." She begged as Latimer spoke up.

"It _told_ me to find you. It _wants_ to be held."

The Matron questioned him. "You've had these watches all this time? Why didn't you return them?"

"Because they were waiting. And because I was so scared of the Doctor and Riley."

"Why?"

"Because… I've seen the Doctor. He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun."

"Stop it." Mr. Smith demanded, looking sick.

"He's ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the universe."

"Stop it! I said stop it."

"And he's wonderful. Riley though…" He turned to me and I groaned.

"Don't tell me. Please, don't."

"But you're so different." He said, catching my attention. "Right now, you're like the Doctor. Ice and hatred and anger, but the watch… It was scared, frightened and lonely. There was anger there, but… it only wanted to hide from everything."

I brushed my fingers over the watch, looking down at it sadly. "It's not time yet. Not time for me."

The room went quiet, until there was a rustling and the Matron pulled out Mr. Smith's book.

"I've still got this. The journal."

"Those are just stories." Mr. Smith snapped.

"Now we know that's not true. Perhaps there's something in here."

Suddenly, the cottage shook and Martha gasped as I clenched my eyes shut, the movement irritating my arm.

"What the hell—"

Everyone gathered around a window except Latimer and I, watching fireballs rain from the sky.

"They're destroying the village." The Matron muttered as Mr. Smith turned around.

"The watch."

"John, don't."

Mr. Smith picked up the watch, holding it and Latimer questioned him.

"Can you hear it?"

"He's asleep." Mr. Smith replied. "Waiting to awaken."

"Why did he speak to me?"

"Oh, low level telepathic field. You were born with it. Just an extra synaptic engram causing—" Mr. Smith sucked in a breath, stopping his quick Doctor-like rambling. "Is that how he talks?"

"That's him. All you have to do is open it and he's back." Martha said, only upsetting him more.

"You knew this all along and yet you watched while Nurse Redfern and I—"

"I didn't know how to stop you. He gave Riley and I a list of things to watch out for, but that wasn't included."

He looked at her in shock. "Falling in love? That didn't even occur to him?"

Martha hesitated. "N-No."

"Then what's sort of man is that?" Mr. Smith cried. "And now you expect me to die?!"

Martha tried to explain as I grimaced again, the pain getting worse as the vaporization spread. "It was always going to end, though! The Doctor said the Family's got a limited lifespan, and that's why they need to consume a Time Lord. Otherwise, three months and they die… Like mayflies, he said."

"So your job was to execute me."

"People are dying out there. _They_ need him and _I_ need him. Because you've got _no_ idea of what he's like. I've only just met him, heck, Riley met him a week before we came here! It wasn't even that long ago, but… he is everything. He's just everything to me and he doesn't even look at me, but I don't care… because I love him to bits… And I hope to _God_ , he won't remember me saying this."

The house shook again and I actually cried out a bit, catching their attention as all eyes went to me.

"Riley? Riley, are you alright?" Martha asked, matching me as I clenched my teeth together in pain, a hand on my wound.

"I'd say I'm fine, but you humans never stop pestering me what I say that. So no. I'm not fine."

She hurried over to me, touching my wrist. "Let me see, Riley. I can help."

"Oh, I highly doubt that." I grunted as Latimer came over.

"H-He was hit by one of those gun things that they have."

"Little rat." I muttered with a roll of my eyes as Martha pulled my hand away to show the vaporization having traveled down my arm and nearly to the top of my shoulder.

"My God…"

My eyes caught Mr. Smith's shocked expression and I frowned.

"So what now, huh? The only one who can help me is the Doctor and you're not him. I finally got saved from hell and now you're just going to sit back as it gets snuffed away! I know what you're thinking and it won't work!" I shouted at him, sweat forming on my brow as I struggled in Martha's grip. "You coward! Giving them what they want isn't going to stop any of this! It won't save me or anyone out there! That _boy_ is braver than you! He risked his life getting here to save you and you're just throwing that out the window like it's trash! Some Time Lord you are! You're nothing but another greedy human like all the rest!"

"Riley!" Martha called out as I sagged against her, exhausted. "It's spreading further and you have a fever now too."

"Martha, Timothy." The Matron said. "Could you take Riley outside and leave us alone, please?"

I was helped out of the chair and out onto the porch where we sat and watched as fire rained down around us, shaking the ground we sat on. It was a while before Mr. Smith came out with the sad looking Matron, only is wasn't Mr. Smith, it was the Doctor; born anew.

"Riley, hey, focus on me, alright?"

I blinked the fog from my eyes and looked over at him as he checked over my arm. "You took too long. Idiot."

"Yeah, well, you know how things get." He smiled softly.

"Don't act like you know me." I grumbled, looking down to see him pinching the back of my hand but not feeling anything. "That can't be good."

"No. I would say not." He said, picking me up and draping me over his back, looking at Martha on the porch.

"Stay here. I need to take her to the Tardis. _Don't_ leave until the attacks have stopped."

"Her?" Both Timothy and the Matron questioned in surprise as I winked.

"Whoops, did I forget to mention that?"

The Doctor hurried off then, with a roll of his eyes, carrying me back to the Tardis as he scolded me. "I swear. Always getting into trouble you."

"Oh yeah… Cause I'm the one who totally got us in this mess."

"Well, you got me there. Now how'd you get shot? Because I'd say it was while protecting a _human_."

"Shut it." I muttered, embarrassed that he caught on right away. "I don't mind the kids as long as they're not brats."

"Ah, I see." He used his sonic to get rid of the scarecrows guarding the Tardis and rushed me into the sick-bay, lying me down and checking my arm again with a grimace. "Ooh, not good. Not good. Did the Tardis give you anything for boosting your immune system?"

I nodded, pulling out a bottle and passing it to him as he put on his glasses, giving it a look and turned back to me.

"This is basic headache medication."

"Oh, your _stupid_ girlfriend!" I complained, pulling out the other bottle and handing it to him. "Thanks to her, I've been taking the wrong thing this whole time!"

"Sorry." He muttered with a wince. "Oh, what to do, what to do. Got to help you and come up with a plan for those—"

His voice was quickly tuned out as he muttered to himself and I listened quietly, hearing that familiar voice saying something new for once.

" _Only a little. Only for a second."_

I frowned, but my mind quickly caught up with what it was trying to tell me and I turned to the Doctor.

"Hey. Those things sniffed us out, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. But what does that— Oh."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh is right, moron. Mess with their nose and they won't know that you changed back. Press a few buttons you shouldn't and problem solved."

"Brilliant! Oh, you are _amazing_ , Riley!"

"Then go." I shoved him lightly with my good arm, surprising him.

"No. I have to help you first."

"I'll be fine. It won't reach anything major for another couple of hours." I lied through my teeth. "I can slow it down."

"How—Never mind." He shook his head, knowing that he had no time to be asking questions and he got up, heading for the door and turning back to me seriously. "You better be here when I get back."

I mock saluted him. "Yes, sir."

I waited a while after he left before pulling my watch back out of my shirt, letting it dangle above my face as I sighed. I had a bit more of a clue what was in this watch, but that didn't make me eager to find out everything and blast myself in the face with it. I _did_ , however, point it at my wound and clicked it open, gold dust filtering out and wrapping my arm as pain racked my body. I screamed, snapping the watch closed and clutching my arm, but after a few moments of agonizing pain, it was gone and my arm looked completely healed once more. And, though I was exhausted, I decided to play one last trick on the Doctor as revenge for making me serve the species I despised. _Oh, the look on his face…_

* * *

And his face was _hilarious_! I continued to laugh even as I waited for him in the sick bay, feet swinging back and forth as Martha and him stood outside speaking with Timothy. I wanted to go out as well, but he ordered me to wait to get checked out again; my miraculous recovery having surprised him almost as much as not finding me in the sick bay when he returned that night.

"Oh, he was _sooo_ angry. I just slipped off to my room, but he thought I up and got completely vaporized! Isn't that funny?"

The Tardis hummed around me, but I frowned.

"Hey, no scolding! It's his fault for dragging me into this mess. Wouldn't have happened if he just stayed out of trouble while I was asleep."

She hummed again and I nodded.

"True, true. He's a trouble magnet, but dragging me in when I didn't have the slightest clue what was going on was _not_ nice."

"Then next time _you_ get hurt, I'll be sure to 'accidentally' lose you again."

I turned around and smirked at the annoyed looking Doctor. "Oh, come on now. You know you deserved it."

He sighed, setting the computers to scan me as I lied down on the table, stuffing any flashbacks to the back of my mind, despite the nervous feeling I still had around the Doctor.

"Conversing with the Tardis again?"

"She's better at conversation than you are."

"Oi! Not true!"

The Tardis hummed and he frowned up at the ceiling. "Don't _agree_ with her!"

I rolled my eyes before closing them, listening to the buzzing of the scanners as the Doctor went on.

"I still don't know how you do that, but you're going to tell me as soon as we're done. About _you_ and that watch."

This made me frown, snapping my eyes open and making to sit up only for him to push me back down.

"Sit still. The scans aren't finished."

"I already told you I don't know what I am or anything. The most I get—"

"Is dreams." He finished for me, but a frown still on his face. "And yet you have a watch that's _extremely_ similar to mine in both looks and function. You can't tell me that doesn't mean something."

I heard the scanners beep, informing me that they had finished and I took that opportunity to sit up and gazed hardly at the Doctor. "Right now? It doesn't. It means absolutely nothing, because I know that whatever's in that watch is not something that I should know about. Not until it's time and right now, it's not. So drop it, Doctor. Because I'm not going to risk everything I am now to become a whole 'nother person on the whims of a man I hardly know myself. Now excuse me, but the Tardis was going to show me the library before we start on some new adventure. Have fun with your scans and… you're welcome, by the way."

I hopped off the table and left the room, ignoring the tense atmosphere I left behind with the Doctor as best I could, though once I found the library, I sank to the floor with a groan.

" _God_ , I'm so stupid."


	4. Chapter 4: Last of the Time Lords

"Cardiff!" The Doctor shouted, confusing Martha and I.

"Cardiff?"

"What's so special about Cardiff?" I asked, giving him a look.

"Ah, the thing about Cardiff, it's _built_ on a rift in time and space, just like California and the San Andreas Fault, but the rift _bleeds_ energy. Every now and then I need to open up the engines, soak up the energy and use it as fuel." He explained, moving around and flipping switches.

"So it's a _pit_ stop."

"Exactly. Should only take twenty seconds. The rift's been active."

I sighed, standing up and stretching. "Twenty seconds, right? Can I catch a breather?"

"If you hurry." I nodded, just barely hearing Martha talking to him as I headed out.

"Wait a minute. They had an earthquake in Cardiff a couple of years ago. Was that you?"

"Bit of trouble with the Slitheen…"

I chuckled as I stretched outside the Tardis, before I suddenly spotted a man running towards the Tardis and me.

"Doctor!"

I raised a brow, when the Doctor called out from inside.

"Riley! Get back in here!"

I hesitated. "But there's this guy—"

"Now!"

I glanced back at the man and opened the Tardis door, going to walk in as the Doctor flipped the switch to move; planning on leaving the man behind. Thing was, just before we took off, the back of my coat was grabbed and—having been caught off guard—I tumbled out of the Tardis just as it took off, leaving me hanging onto the hand that grabbed me desperately as the Tardis flew through the Time Vortex.

"A-Ah! Pull me back! Pull me back!" I shouted and I could feel the man trying to lift me back up, but my coat was slipping off.

I took one last look at the man holding me, him mouthing his apologies as he begged me to hang on, before my coat finally slipped off and I tumbled through time.

* * *

The Tardis landed roughly after supposedly traveling to the end of the universe.

"Well, we've landed."

Martha turned to him in shock. "And what about Riley?! She just fell out of the Tardis! She could be dead!"

The Doctor's face fell, remembering Riley's desperate look at him just before she fell out of the Tardis.

"If she was lucky, she fell out while we were still in Cardiff." He muttered, toggling some switches on the Tardis' console.

"And if not?" Martha questioned, looking worried as the Doctor stopped and stared down in worry.

"Then she fell through the Time Vortex…"

"Okay. Alright." Martha nodded, trying to look hopeful. "Then what does that mean, hm?"

The Doctor stayed silent and her throat constricted tightly.

"No. N-No, no, no. You're lying. _Tell_ me you're lying! We just met her a few weeks ago!"

"You think I don't know that?!" He shouted back, surprising her and he let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should have made sure she was inside before taking off. God! I'm so stupid!" He yelled again, slamming a fist down on the Tardis console.

Martha wasn't sure what to do as he flicked switches on the Tardis, muttering to himself about trying to check the scanners for Riley. This was a side to the Doctor that she hadn't seen before. She knew he would be angry about what happened, but she assumed that it wouldn't be too bad because Riley and the Doctor seemed to of had a going-out after what happened with the Family of Blood. Even when they were sent back to 1969 by the Weeping Angels not too long ago, the two seemed to argue more and go out of their way to push each others' buttons. She got angry with them a few times, but for the most part it seemed like their bonding time, so she stayed out of it. The most she found out about their bickering was that it had something to do with Riley's watch.

Even she had some suspicion about that after the Doctor turned human with his own watch. There was just something about Riley's that made her think that perhaps, Riley had done the same to herself to hide from something. _But that would mean that there's another Time Lord. Someone other than the Doctor._ She reminded herself of this time and time again, which was why she allowed them to playfully bicker despite her slight jealousy towards Riley—who was able to just be friendly with the Doctor like they were long time friends, a connection Martha wished she had with the man. She knew though, that the Doctor had his own suspicions about this but he seemed to dislike the person Riley was, and yet he also empathized with what she'd been through. They were both such complicated people that it was difficult for her to figure them out sometimes. So seeing the Doctor this upset about Riley was something worrying.

 _Is it because he thinks she's one of him? And that if she died, he'd be alone? Or is it because he felt bad for giving her such a hard time lately, only for her to possibly… die while they were on bad terms?_ The questions were endless and things only got worse when the Doctor stopped to check a scanner. Martha could practically _see_ the heartbreak in his eyes, stirring that little green demon of jealousy in her gut, as he spoke in a quiet whisper.

"No… She can't be…"

"Doctor?"

He ignored her, rushing out of the Tardis and going outside with her following after him, only to find him glaring down at a man lying on the ground.

"Oh my God!" Martha rushed to his side, checking for a pulse. "Can't get a pulse. Hold on. You've got that medical kit thin—"

"Don't bother." He growled out, stopping her with this voice alone.

"What, do you know him?"

"Friend of mine." He spat out, just as the man sat up, gasping for air; making Martha scream as he grabbed onto her.

"Oh, so much for me!" She said, glancing back at the still furious Doctor as she tried to help the man calm down. "Alright, just breathe deep. I've got you."

"Captain Jack Harkness." The man said, introducing himself, brushing his hand over her chin. "And who are you?"

"Martha Jones."

"Nice to meet you, Martha Jones." He smiled, before the Doctor walked over and picked him up by his collar.

"Oh, don't you _start._ "

"W-Woah there! Hold on a second! I'll have you know, I tried to save her!" Jack quickly spouted out, recognizing the heated glare the Doctor was giving him. "I grabbed her coat before she fell out of it! I swear!"

"You're the one who pulled her out there! _You_ dragged her out of the Tardis to her death!"

"W-Wait! Hold on! She's _dead_?! Riley's dead?!" Martha gasped out, shocked.

The Doctor didn't even glance at her. "I couldn't find her on my scanners. Through all of time and space, nothing. All because _this man_ couldn't just leave things be!"

"You abandoned me!"

"Did I? Well, here, let me do it again!"

"No wait!" Jack called out. "What about Rose?! She alive? 'Cause I'm sure she wouldn't want this!"

"Yeah, she's alive, in a parallel world, safe and sound! Unlike Riley!"

"I told you, I didn't mean it!" Jack yelled back. "I tried! Really!"

"She could have been a Ti—" He cut himself off, before throwing Jack back and storming off, set on looking around to take him mind off things.

Jack stared at him in surprise, before turning to Martha. "Is she really that important?"

Martha nodded, the two of them following after the Doctor. "She only joined us a few weeks ago. She'd been experimented on for 50 years and… I guess the Doctor just wanted to give her a life after that."

"50 years? She didn't look much older than 25!"

"The Doctor probably thought of her as a mystery. She has no memories of who she was before 12 with only the occasional dreams, so she says. But we just found out that… she has this watch… We were thinking that she might be… you know… like him."

She nodded towards the Doctor and Jacks eyes widened.

"No kidding…" He glanced over at the downtrodden Doctor and suddenly felt a million times worse, because he may have just allowed the only other person who could connect with the Doctor to fall out of the Tardis to her death.

* * *

The Time Vortex. Not the best place to be hanging around for any length of time unprotected. Falling through it was even worse. Time winds tore at my body and I screamed in agony, but there was no sound. Even my voice was torn to pieces. Then, it was done. I hit the ground, grass brushing across my face, but that was it. I was dead. I knew it. It wasn't hard to figure out. No heartbeat, no air filling and leaving my lungs, no brain functions. And yet, I was seeing things. Things I had forgotten. Fears I had locked away in a watch. A watch that had fallen out and clicked itself open in front of me when I hit the ground.

My parents had died, just as I'd dreamed, and I discovered a few other things I hadn't know. _Half breed… Hunt her down… get rid of her… disgrace… imprisonment… never supposed to happen… attack… run…_ I finally realized who I was. Who I had been. Why I was so scared. I was scared now. I just learned all of this and now I was dying. I didn't want to be afraid anymore. I wanted to have fun. To enjoy myself. To have people to care for. To be someone new. To be… like the Doctor. But I still had so much to learn. Knowledge I hadn't tapped into yet. I _wanted_ to learn! I was… I was the Knowledgeable. That was my name. The name I had chosen for myself back then. A name that made me want to learn. To teach. To experience new things. But that couldn't happen if I died. No. It couldn't.

"Ahh!" I screamed as light poured from my body, pain ripping through me before everything suddenly stopped and I laid panting on the ground, aching. "Well… _That_ was unexpected. _Very_ unexpected, actually."

I sat up abruptly, looking around to find myself in a desolated field with no signs of civilization in sight. I pulled a hand through my hair and blinked quizzically.

"Oh? My hair grew a little." I tugged a strand in front of my face and jumped up in shock. "Blonde?! I'm a blonde now?! Woah!"

I wobbled and tumbled back down to the ground, staring up at the sky with a chuckle.

"Ahaha, new body. Right, right. Forgot about that bit. Memories, memories all in a jumble. Come on brain, _think_!"

I sat back up again. "Oh! Oh-ho! There we go!"

I looked around and found my open watch, grinning, I picked it up and closed it, tossing it up in the air once and pocketing it.

"My faithful companion, you have finally restored my memories! A half! Only half, but half is good enough." I rambled, standing up once more and actually being able to stay up this time.

"Let's see, different body, different body. Taller. Dirty blonde hair." I tugged a hand through my hair and then walked in a circle, pacing. "New voice. Hm, deeper, but quick. English. And—"

I paused, looking down as I suddenly realized something. I slowly reached down and pulled the waistband of my pants out and quickly releasing them.

"My God! I'm a man!" I spun around then, getting a little dizzy. "Extra parts. Oh, what am I going to do about the extra parts. Not used to that. Definitely not. But still two legs. That's good. Only one head." I pat my head and face, double checking. "Very good. Nose could've been better, but ah well."

I shivered then, tugging on my hair that now tickled the back of my neck. "Oh, but I'm a _man_! Now what am I going to do about that. Nothing, I suppose. Rather not kill myself again, although…" I paused, looking up again in confusion. "Wasn't exactly my fault. Ah, well. More importantly…"

I spun around once more, holding my hands out. "Where the bloody hell am I?"

* * *

England, it turns out. Though it wasn't the England I remember. No, this one was barren. No people milling out other than the occasional medical truck and I quickly learned to stay hidden from the flying metal ball things. Didn't know what to call them other than ball things, but I'd get back to that later. Managed to fasten up a cloaking device of sorts out of an old radio and a cell phone. I rather liked the telepathic satellites, though not for what they were doing.

What can I say? I've made friends. _Human_ friends. Shocking, right? But nah, I still was rather displeased with them, but hanging out with some kids and even a few nutty ones here and there keeps me from getting out of hand or anything. Can't hate all of them. Especially when they have someone over them who's worse. Didn't know the man—that surprised a few people—but apparently he used to be Harold Saxon, a candidate for prime minister. Now he's ruler of Earth. Kind of silly, but I've watched him on tele a few times and there's this weird connection thing we've got going on. Like I know he's different from the rest of the humans. Can't quite place it though. Probably a Time Lord thing. I was still trying to figure that half out.

I managed to get together with a small refugee group though. A team of people hiding from the newly named Master and hoping to get back at him too. Found a nutty professor in the group, Professor Docherty. She had issues with electronics sometimes, especially the tele, but electronics were my thing, so I helped her out. I heard a familiar name recently though. One that dredged up some memories from a few months ago when I accidentally got dropped off in the Time Vortex. Martha Jones. A legend now, though I couldn't help but think that she had a plan and I figured she could take me to the Doctor eventually. I'd hate to leave him thinking I was dead or anything.

"Ah! Ugh!"

I rolled my eyes at hearing the professor clanging about behind me with an old tele, another voice calling out from the outside entrance.

"Professor Docherty?"

"Busy." She replied, and I turned around, giving her a smile.

"Let me."

She frowned, but moved aside to let me handle the tele as the man and his companion walked in; myself not taking much notice at the moment.

"They, uh, they sent word ahead. I'm Tom Milligan. This is Martha Jones."

"She can be the Queen of Sheba for all I care. I'm still busy."

"You mean I am?" I said with a smile, catching sight of Martha and putting down what I was working with as the Professor took over with a roll of her eyes. "Martha! It's been far too long! I know how long it's been for me, but how long's it been for you?" I hugged her and pulled back, still grinning. "Either way, far too long, I'm sure. How're you doing?"

"I-I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

I blinked. "You don't recognize me?" I then smacked myself in the forehead repeatedly. "No! Right! Of course you don't! New face. I keep forgetting that bit. Stupid, stupid, stupid."

"Don't mind him. That's Knoll. He's got a habit of rambling nonsense." The Professor said.

"Oi! It's not nonsense! It's very important information, I'll have you know!" I argued back.

"You rambled on about bananas being a better fruit to eat than apples for over three hours!"

"I-It could be important to some people!"

"Oi!"

We both went quiet at Martha's shout and she glared at us. "As much as I like you two arguing, can someone _please_ tell me who you are and how you know me?"

I pointed to myself and grinned. "Well, you know me as Riley."

She looked confused. "Riley who?"

"Just Riley."

I continued to smile, but she just gave me a blank expression.

"Yeah, no. I have no idea who you are."

I tossed my hands up. "Ugh, look, I—"

"There!" Professor Docherty shouted as she slammed a hand against the tele, turning to me with a frown. "You can talk about this later."

The screen flickered a black and white image of the Master as he adjusted the camera and I scratched my head.

"My people. Salutations… on this, the eve of war. Lovely woman. But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there. Stories of a child, walking the Earth, giving you hope." He moved to stand beside and older man, who gave me the same feeling he did. "But I ask you, how much hope as this man got? Say hello, Gandalf. Except he's not that old, but he's an alien with a _much_ greater lifespan than you stunted little apes. But what if it showed? What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate? All nine hundred years of your life, Doctor. What if we could see them?"

"Doctor?" I muttered, shocked and disgusted as the Master pointed his screwdriver at the elder man until he shrank to the floor in convulsions.

"Older and older and older. Down you go, Doctor. Down, down, down the years." The Master moved around to where the Doctor would've been if the camera was angled low enough to see him. "Doctor."

There was silence, making myself think the worse, but I swallowed the feeling down, focusing on that connection and barely finding it there. _He's not dead._

"Received and understood, Ms. Jones." The Master said, before switching off the camera.

One look at Martha though, and I knew she had come to the same conclusion as I had.

"I'm sorry." Tom said, but she smiled.

"The Doctor's still alive."

"Of course he is!" I grinned, thumping her on the back and earning a glare as she doubled over slightly. "Right. Sorry. Still working on the strength part."

I flexed my hand and went back around the room, trying to fix things here and there as dusk turned into night.

* * *

"Right… So who are you again?" Martha questioned the blonde she'd met who apparently knew her.

He turned to her with a grin. "The Knowledgeable. You can call me Knoll!"

She frowned as the Professor shook her head.

"He introduced himself like that to us too. We thought he was mad, but well… A good number of us are, actually."

The man turned back to his work, humming a random tune as he fiddled with a computer nearby.

"He's good with the kids 'round here though, and a whiz when it comes to mechanics. He's probably the first to figure something out about the Master."

"And what's that?" Martha asked as the Professor explained, passing Tom a paper, him showing it to Martha.

"Obviously the Archangel Network would seem to be the Master's greatest weakness. Fifteen satellites all around the Earth, still transmitting. That's why there's so little resistance. It's broadcasting a telepathic signal that keeps people scared."

"We could just take them out." Tom said, but Knoll turned back around, snatching the paper out of his hands and waving a finger around.

"No, no, no. Can't do that. Not unless you've got fifteen ground to air missiles." Knoll dropped off the paper back to the Professor. "That, and if those ball things sense any military action, they attack."

"Ball things?" Martha questioned.

Knoll waved his hand about. "Toplane, togame, tolawane—"

"Toclafane, Knoll! We've told you this a million times over."

"And I still don't like it." He said, as Martha nodded.

"They're not called Toclafane. That's a name the Master made up."

"Then what are they, then?"

"Ball things." Knoll piped up, earning a smack from the Professor.

"Shut it."

Martha rolled her eyes, before looking seriously at the woman. "That's why I came to find you. Know your enemy… I've got this." Martha got up and pulled a CD out of her backpack. "No one's been able to look at a sphere close up. They can't even be _damaged_ , except once. The lightning strike in South Africa brought one of them down, just by chance. I've got the readings on this."

The Professor took the CD and brought it over to a computer by Knoll, trying to get it to read it. When it took a little too long, she smacked it, but Knoll called out in outrage.

"Oi! Be nice! She's working on it!"

"She?" Martha questioned and Knoll sent her a look.

"What? She looks like a 'she', don't you think? I mean, I did too, at one point. Not so much now. Not with this honker."

He messed with his nose for a moment before Martha rolled her eyes behind his back and Tom spoke up.

"So is that why you traveled the world? To find a disc?"

"No. Just got lucky."

"I heard stories that you walked the Earth to find a way to build a weapon." The Professor said, before the computer binged. "There! A current of fifty eight point five kiloamperes transferred charge of five hundred and ten megajoules precisely."

"Can you recreate that?" Tom asked

"I think so." The Professor responded right before Knoll grinned and answered again.

"Easily. Yes."

"Right then, Doctor Milligan, we're going to get us a sphere." Martha grinned.

Everyone split up once the machine was finished and Tom was in charge of getting the sphere's attention. Once he fired up a few shots, he ran for his life; Martha waiting around a corner for him. Once she caught sight of him, she rushed towards Knoll and the Professor.

"He's coming! You ready?!"

"You do your job, we'll do ours!" She replied just as Tom ran in.

"Now!"

Knoll put the two plugs together and electricity shocked the Toclafane until it fell to the ground. The group then walked up to it once the electric field was down and grinned at their successful retrieval.

"That's only half the job. Let's find out what's inside. Knoll!"

Knoll nodded and picked up the ball, carrying it for the Professor, but he was the only one not smiling; having figured out what the Toclafane were a long time ago. Once they opened the Toclafane, Knoll's eyes saddened and the Professor was even shocked.

"Oh my God."

They gathered closer to the small head, before the lights flashed on inside and the face opened it's eyes.

"It's alive." The Professor gasped, Martha coming closer as the face spoke.

"Martha. Martha Jones."

"It _knows_ you." Tom said, glancing over at Knoll who continued to look down at the face sadly.

"Sweet, kind Martha Jones. You helped us fly."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You led us to salvation."

"Who are you?"

"The skies are made of diamonds."

"No." She took a step back, realizing then. "You can't be him."

"We share each others' memories. You sent him to Utopia."

"Oh my God." She gasped, coming back towards it as Tom looked on in confusion.

"What's it talking about? What's it mean?"

"What are they?" The Professor even questioned.

"Martha. Martha, tell us. What are they?"

She didn't get a chance to answer before Knoll did. "They're humans."

Martha and the others turned to him in shock as he gazed down at the creature before them.

"How… How do you know? How _could_ you know?"

Knoll simply shook his head, stepping back and giving them a small smile. "I'm clever. More clever than you would think, Martha and… I figured out long ago how to catch one of these." Knoll sighed, pulling a hand through his hair. "I shouldn't have. I should have just remained clueless. Innocent, but that never lasts, does it?"

Knoll shook his head and turned around, heading for the door outside. "Sorry. I just need some air."

* * *

A gunshot rang out and I flinched, having not known that was going to happen, but my mind shouted that I did and I could have prevented it.

" _You could have saved us!"_

" _You left us to die!"_

" _Coward! You coward!"_

"Shut up!" I shouted, grabbing my head as the voices shouted at me.

Voices of my past, the past I thought would've been better left forgotten.

"Knoll?"

I quickly snapped my head back up with a grin, hiding any traces of my previous emotions. "Hello, Martha. I hope you've managed to come up with a suitable plan then?"

She gave me a strange look. "Yeah… I'm sorry though. For making you witness that again."

I stared up at the night sky with a small sorrowful smile. "It's alright."

"Why didn't you tell us though? Why keep it a secret?" She questioned, simply curious.

"Because secrets keep us safe." I said, staying quiet for a bit longer before turning to her with a grin. "That's what I used to believe anyway. Kept me safe for a long time, but it also made me naive, so it's a double edged sword, so to speak… I wonder if they still make those…"

Martha chuckled, making me look at her in confusion.

"Was that funny? Double edge swords? How's that funny?" I questioned more to myself than her.

"No, no. It's not that. You just…" Her face fell a little. "You remind me of someone, is all."

"Someone handsome, I hope?" I asked with a wink and she smiled.

"Yeah. Yeah, I suppose he was."

"That's good. Wouldn't want to be compared with someone… well, not handsome. 'Ugly' is not a very nice word… Not pretty? No, that doesn't roll of the tongue very well." I pointed to my tongue as I stuck it out. "New tongue. Only had it a few months."

"Uh-huh…" She shook her head then. "Right, I might as well tell you what I told them about the paradox machine."

And she did, telling me about the Tardis and what the Master had done to it, as well as the fact that it was stuck between traveling here and the end of the universe. She also mentioned heading out to find the last piece of a weapon she was told to find by the Doctor, though the idea of him telling her to get a weapon was odd. She mentioned leaving and I immediately perked up.

"I'll come with you."

"What?"

I nodded. "I can come. Help. I'm good with machines and I… We're old friends, the Doctor and I."

She raised a brow at that. "Really? Are you immortal too? The last guy was and the Doctor didn't really care for him too much."

"Immortal… no, not really." I mused. "Takes a bit to kill me, but that's no matter. There's something I need to tell him and I'm sure he'll have been waiting far to long to hear it. And, as I said, I can help." I reached into my pocket and pulled out a pass, waving it. "See? I have an ID. I can travel just as well as Milligan. No problem."

She looked at it and glanced at me. "That says Robert T. Scott."

I held it up next to my face with a grin. "Looks just like me, eh?"

She sighed, shaking her head. "Look. I can't take you with me."

"But I can hel—"

"No." She repeated sternly. "I can't risk… I can't risk it."

She turned to go back inside, but I frowned.

"Then I'll go alone."

That stopped her and I continued.

"I can move around freely, those ball things can hardly notice me anyway with the perception filter and—"

"Wait, wait, wait. Perception filter?"

I nodded with a smile, fishing out my watch from inside my shirt. "Convenient, eh? Made it with some spare parts after wandering into town and figuring things out." I frowned then, remembering those days. "I had to walk through the sewer system for a while, gross, but handy!"

I was suddenly yanked down to her level as she grabbed my watch and looked at it closer.

"Agh! You're choking me!"

"Sorry!" She let it go, allowing me to rub my neck as I stuck my tongue out. "Y-You _made_ a perception filter though?"

I nodded, tapping my temple. "Like I say. Clever."

She eyed me. "Why do you have a fake ID then?"

I pointed to the watch I was holding up. "Fizzes out sometimes. Darn thing." I dropped the watch back down my shirt and leaned closer to her. "He has an attitude problem."

"What? So the computer's a 'she' and now your watch is a 'he'?"

I tilted my head with a confused frown. "Of course. I wouldn't call them _both_ 'she'. That's just ridiculous."

She shook her head with a chuckle. "Right, right. My bad… what about the people here? You can't just leave them."

"Why not? I've no connection to them other than the Professor and she's just the crazy old bat I stuck around to keep sane."'

She raised a brow. "You _do_ realize what you're saying, don't you?"

I nodded. "Oh yes. The insane keep me sane. Well, them and children. I've got a soft spot for children."

"Alright… Alright, I guess you can come with." She finally agreed. "I can't have you going out on your own and doing something stupid."

"Aw, you care." I smiled, following after her as we went back inside and I grabbed some things and followed her and Tom as they headed out.

"We can't get across London in the dark. It's full of wild dogs. We'll get eaten alive. We can wait till the morning, then go with the medical convoy."

"You can spend the night _here_ , if you like." The Professor offered.

"No." Tom said. "We can get halfway, stay at the slave quarters in Bexley. Professor, thank you." He reached out a hand that she shook.

"And you. Good luck." She then turned to me as he took off, smacking me upside the head. "And _you_ , you better keep that idiot blonde head of yours out of trouble, you hear?"

"Yes, ma'am." I chuckled, rubbing the spot where she hit me and giving her a hug in return. "And next time the computer's on the fritz, try unplugging it and plugging it in again."

"Go on you." She scolded as I mock saluted her and went to stand over by Tom, as Martha thanked her.

As she walked away though, the Professor called out.

"Martha? Could you do it? Could you actually kill him?"

"We've got no choice."

The Professor shook her head. "You look like many things, but you don't look like a killer to me."

Martha stayed silent and she hurried out with Tom right after her, and I sent the Professor one last smile.

* * *

When we reached the small apartment, sneaking past the guards outside, I felt worry and sadness creep up on me for the multitudes of people packed away in here.

"Did you bring food?" One woman asked and Tom shook his head.

"Couldn't get any and I'm starving."

I waved my hand with a cheeky grin. "I may be able to help with that."

All eyes went to me as I pulled off my pack, unzipping it to show off the mountains of food within, passing it to the grateful woman once I'd taken a protein bar for Tom and Martha.

"Oh, thank you."

"Where'd you get all that?" Tom questioned. "I hardly saw a single bar in the camp."

"I save mine for the people who really need it." I replied, looking around as the people cheered up as the sight of food, even if it was just one bar or half a bar.

"But that's got to be at least a months worth of food. You've only been with the Professor for a little more than that. How could you have survived?"

I pat my stomach with a smile. "Don't eat like you do. Simple as that."

He gave me an odd look, as did Martha, before a younger man spoke up.

"Are you Martha Jones?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Can you do it? Can you kill him? They said you can kill the Master, can you? Tell us you can do it. _Please_ , tell us you can do it." He begged as another woman spoke up.

"Who is the Master?"

The rest started babbling too, all wanting to ask questioned and Tom tried to stop them.

"Come on. Just leave her alone. She's exhausted."

Martha shook her head. "No, it's alright. They want me to talk and I will."

She proceeded to speak to them, telling them the stories of the Doctor and her, gathering everyone at the stairs. I simply leaned up against the wall with a small smile as I listened, before a woman rushed in, panicking.

"It's him! It's him! Oh my God, it's him! It's the Master! He's here."

"But he never comes to Earth. H-He never walks upon the ground." The young man from before said, but Tom and the others were more worried for Martha.

"Hide her!"

"Use this!" They covered Martha with an old sack, but I silently wondered if it would work.

"He walks among us, our lord and master." The young man said, seeming to doom us all.

"Martha. Martha Jones." The Master called out making his voice higher. "I can see you! Out you come, little girl. Come and meet your master… Anybody? Nobody? No? Nothing? Positions."

Gun's cocked outside and the people in here tensed. "I'll give the order unless you surrender. Ask yourself. What would the Doctor do?"

I watched as Martha pulled on a perception filter, I myself seeing her because I wanted to, and I watched as she headed towards the door. She touched Tom's hand, making him stand and lower the gun and smiled at us, making to go, but I grabbed her arm, handing her a small device.

"Take this. Hide it. Anywhere. In your shoe even and forget about it." I smiled. "Trust me."

She slowly nodded, bending over and tucking the small circular object into her shoe before heading outside.

"Oh, yes. Oh, very well done. Good girl. He trained you well." The Master clapped, before pointing a gun at her. "Bag. Give me the bag. No, stay there. Just throw it."

She threw her bag and he destroyed it with his sonic.

"And now, good companion, your work is done." He went to kill her, but Tom suddenly rushed out before I could stop him and took the hit instead.

"But _you_ , when you die, the Doctor should be witness, hmm?" He said after laughing at Tom's death, but I could see it.

Something changed in Martha's eyes. Something that even I could recognize. _The eyes of a soldier._

The Master took a deep breath through his nose before taking Martha with him. "Almost dawn, Martha, and planet Earth marches to war."

I watched and watched and watched from an old tele that I managed to fix with some spare parts and a screwdriver—a regular one, mind you. I stared seriously at it up until Martha told the Master about what she'd been doing while traveling the world. Oh, what a wonderful thing it was. As the time counted down, everyone flooded out of the houses and stood outside calling out for the Doctor, but I knew it wasn't over. The Doctor had been returned, yes, but the ball thin— _Toclafane_ — were still there and I took off my perception filter, watching as they flooded up towards the sky ship that the Master was at. And it was that moment, that I knew I could help. And help, I shall.

"Here I come, Martha Jones." I put a hand over the button on my wrist. "Here I come."

* * *

"Captain! The Paradox machine!" The Doctor shouted at Jack, who took a couple of guys and made a bolt for it, just as the Doctor spotted the Master pulling out the Time Manipulator. "No!"

He grabbed it and they both disappeared, leaving Martha to hurry towards the console on the flight deck, checking the scanners.

"We've all six billion spheres heading right for us!"

"Looks like you're in a bit of a pickle."

She turned around at the familiar voice in complete shock at the dirty blonde man standing there.

"Knoll! But how did you—"

"No time to talk. Bit of world saving to do at the moment, though I'll tell you, an old time manipulator is one hard thing to find." I winked at her, the wristband peeking out from under my dirty lab coat as I moved past her and began messing with controls on the console.

"W-Wait! What are you doing?!"

"Working my way into the controls of the satellites that converse to the ball things to send an electrical impulse through their system before they realize what's happened." I then pushed a button on the console and spoke over the alarm through the intercom. "Give me another 45 seconds and make sure you're all away from the ball thin—"

"Toclafane!" Martha shouted.

"Yeah, those. They're about to get a little shock." I grinned, hearing responses through the ship, though one caught my attention.

"Who's that? How do you know how to get past their system?!"

"You're that punk who pushed me into the Time Vortex!"

"What?!"

I stood up from my leaned over position in front of the console and wagged a finger at it, despite the fact that the man couldn't see me. "No, no, no. I know you're him. And I expect to hear one big apology from you or you can forget about me helping."

" _What_?!"

Martha looked at me in shock as I folded my arms across my chest. "You're kidding me, right?! You won't stop them—You won't save the world and stop them if he doesn't _apologize_?!"

"I'm waiting!"

Martha stared at me in shock before shouting into the intercom. "Do it!"

"Alright! Sorry!"

I grinned. "Alrighty then! I expect a face-to face one by the time—"

"Knoll!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going."

I flicked a switch and the Toclafane shuddered on the spot, sparking and falling to the ground with loud 'thunks', I myself using a magnetic field along the outside of the ship to catch the ones outside without them falling to Earth and knocking out some unsuspecting people.

"Oh, thank you!" Martha grinned, hugging me on the spot as I awkwardly stood there with my arms up.

"A-Ah! Stop it! Hugs are a no-no in this body!"

She stopped but gave me a look. "But you hugged Professor Docherty."

"Ah, yes. But if you remember right, _I_ hugged her. Not the other way around. Still not used to that bit. How you doing down there, Jack?"

"Give me a minute!" He replied, before the Toclafane started disappearing and the ship shook violently.

"Everyone get down!"

I heard the Doctor shout, having returned it seemed.

"Time is reversing!"

Papers flew about and everyone held on as best they could before time finally went back to normal; the ship stopping and the Doctor and I standing up and rushing around the console.

"The paradox is broken!" I smiled.

"We've reverted back, one year and one day. Two minutes past eight in the morning." He twisted a dial on the radio as a voice came through.

"This is UNIT Central. What's happened up there? We just saw the President assassinated!"

He clicked it off. "Just after the President was killed, but just before the spheres arrived. Everything back to normal. Planet Earth restored. None of it happened. The rockets, the terror. It never was."

"What about the spheres?" Martha questioned.

"Trapped at the end of the universe."

"Poor things." I muttered, earning a sad nod from him and a curious look.

"But I can remember it." An older woman said, Martha's mother, was my guess.

"We're at the eye of the storm." The Doctor explained. "The only one who'll ever know."

The Doctor spotted one of the guys on the ground and helped him up with a grin. "Oh, hello! You must be Mr. Jones! We haven't actually met!"

He then turned to me, but before he could do anything, the Master tried to make a bolt for it, until Jack caught him.

"Whoa, big fella! You don't want to miss the party." He turned to the officer beside him. "Cuffs." He then turned back to the rest of us. "So, what do we do with this one?"

"We kill him."

"We execute him."

"Humans. Always the same." I said with a roll of my eyes as the Doctor argued with them.

"No. That is not the solution."

I spotted Martha's mother picking up a gun though and sighed as I headed down the stairs around the side.

"Oh, I think so." She said, aiming it at the Master with tears in her eyes. "Because all those _things_ , they still happened. Because of _him_. I saw them."

The Master smirked. "Go on. Do it." He dared.

I sighed loudly, drawing attention to me as I stood between them with my hands up in surrender.

"Really now? I thought humans were better than this. And trust me, that's a tall order to fill, especially with me."

The woman frowned, confused. "Who _are_ you?"

"Knoll." Martha said up on the flight deck. "What are you doing?"

I smiled. "Just standing in the way. Helping her make a choice, because I know that she's better than him." I looked at Martha's mother right in the eye, getting serious. "You _are_ better than him."

"A-And how do you know that?" She asked. "I don't even _know_ you!"

"No, but I know Martha. And I know that she's grown up to be a great woman who makes great choices, and in order for that to of happened, she must have had a great mother who taught her to _make_ those choices. And that woman is standing right here before me, right now." I smiled gently and walked towards her as her hands shook and she dropped the weapon to the ground, hugging me and crying.

I grimaced a bit, not really sure what to do now and quickly passed her off to Martha as the Master spoke.

"You still haven't answered the question, Doctor. What happens to me?"

The Doctor moved forward and I turned around to watch.

"You're my responsibility from now on. The only Time Lord left in existence."

I thought about speaking up then, but closed my mouth, thinking that now wasn't exactly the best time as Jack went over to the Doctor in confusion.

"Yeah, but you can't trust him."

The Doctor shook his head. "No. The only safe place for him is the Tardis."

"You mean you're just gonna…" The Master's face fell. "… _keep_ me?"

"Hm." The Doctor nodded. "If that's what I have to do." He then turned to Jack. "It's time to change. Maybe… I've been wandering for too long. Now I've got someone to care for."

A loud gunshot went off then, making everyone jump as the Master took a step back, his wife having shot him. The Doctor rushed to his aid as Jack took the gun from the woman, and I felt a pull towards the Master, heading over as well.

"I've got you. I've got you." The Doctor said as I stopped a little ways back.

"Always the women." The Master joked.

"I didn't see her."

"Dying in your arms. Happy now?"

"You're not dying. Don't be stupid. It's only a bullet. Just regenerate."

"No."

"One little bullet. Come on."

"I guess you don't know me so well. I refuse." The Master said, making the Doctor sound more desperate.

"Regenerate. Just regenerate. Please. _Please_! Just regenerate. Come on."

"And spend the rest of my life imprisoned with _you_?"

"You've got to. Come on. It can't end like this. You and me, all the things we've done. Axons. Remember the Axons? And the Daleks." The Doctor began to cry and I felt a tear slip down my face as well, feeling my hearts being torn apart at the sight of another Time Lord dying in front of me. "We're the only two left… There's no one else… _Regenerate_!"

"How about that. I win." He glanced over at me, having caught on. "Well, not quite…" He then looked back at the Doctor desperately. "Will it stop, Doctor? The drumming. Will it stop?"

The Master's eyes rolled back and he died in the Doctor's arms.

"No!"

After a while, he calmed down and covered the Master's body with his coat, turning to the others in the room with an apology.

"I'm sorry. I, um…" He pulled a hand through his hair and tossed a thumb over his shoulder at the body. "I'll need to take care of this. A Time Lord's body… carries a lot of secrets."

Martha shook her head, still holding onto her distressed mother. "No, it's okay, Doctor. We understand."

Jack nodded as well. "Yeah. I'll, uh, have someone drop them off at home. It's no big deal."

I stepped forward then, catching everyone's attention as I put my hands in my pockets solemnly. "Can I come?"

The Doctor looked at me, confused. "What?"

I nodded towards the body. "Can I come?"

He frowned, shaking his head even more confused. "And who are you again?"

"Oh! That reminds me." I turned around towards Jack and punched him square in the face, hissing as I waved my hand at the pain. "Ooh, that smarts."

"Ow!" Jack said loudly as he sat up, a hand on his cheek. "What was that for?!"

I smiled sickly sweet. "For pulling me into the Time Vortex, thank you."

He looked confused. "What? But that wasn't—" His eyes widened then as did Martha's and the Doctor's.

"Riley?"

I turned to the Doctor with a big grin. "Hello again."

Martha came down from the stairs then. "Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. _Riley_? _The_ Riley?! The same Riley that hated humans, liked to push people's buttons, and had an attitude problem?! _That_ Riley!"

"Oi! I did not—" I cut myself off, thinking. "Well, alright, I guess I did. But yeah, That's me! The one and only!"

"No way! But that chick—"

"Had short red hair and looked to be about 25, right?" I waved at Jack. "That's me. I'd say nice to meet you, but…" I dropped my smile. "…you pulled me out of the Tardis and killed me."

"Sorry about that." He apologized with a small smirk.

"No." The Doctor said, drawing my attention back to him as he came closer. "That's impossible. You… You were sucked into the Time Vortex! You would've been ripped apart!"

I winced. "Yeah, sort of was, but I slipped out pretty quickly so it wasn't enough to… kill me, kill me. Though the winds were pretty. I'll have to study those sometime…"

"Wait, I'm confused." Martha said, coming forward. "You don't _look_ like Riley. You don't _act_ like Riley. And even if you _were_ her, how could you… how could you be alive?"

"Ah… Funny story about that—"

The Doctor grabbed the front of my shirt angrily. "Explain. _Now._ "

I held my hands up in surrender, one hand reaching into my pocket and pulling out my watch.

"Remember this? You two figured it out, I'm sure."

The Doctor took it and opened it, looking at it and then back at me. "The Chameleon Arch."

I nodded. "That's right. I was locked away, just as you were. The only difference is, the people chasing me… were Time Lords."

His eyes narrowed as he growled at me. "The Time War. _Everyone_ was supposed to fight and you ran away like a coward!"

My eyes quickly narrowed in anger as well as I snapped back at the Doctor. "I did _not_ run away. They were coming to _kill_ me, Doctor, not drag me back to Gallifrey."

He was still angry, but his confusion pushed past that. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would they try to kill you while we were in the middle of a war?"

"Because I'm not like you, Doctor. My parents broke a taboo. An ancient taboo that no one should ever break because the consequences were devastating. So devastating that the success rate was a mere .01 percent."

"What are you talking about?" He questioned, eyes searching mine as we glared at each other.

"They had _me._ "

"I-I don't understand." Martha said, reminding the Doctor and I that there were other people in the room. "How is having a child a taboo?"

"It's not." The Doctor said, still trying to figure me out.

"Oh, come on, Doctor. Can't you _feel_ it?" I questioned, closing my eyes along with him. "The connection. It's not as strong with me as with the Master, is it?"

We looked back at each other as he frowned, still not quite catching on and I sighed, glancing at Martha over my shoulder.

"While it's _not_ a taboo to have a child, what my parents did was. Because my father was a Time Lord… and my mother… was human."

The Doctor released me and took a step back in shock as Martha spoke.

"Half? _Half_ Time Lord?"

"No, no, no. But how? Your energy signature would've been off the charts!" The Doctor said as I waited silently for him to figure it out. "The watch. The Chameleon Arch. Your parents made you go through that to hide you. _That's_ why you had no memories from before you were 12! That would've been when they changed you!"

"But why would they do that to their child?" Martha questioned. "Wasn't there anything else they could do?"

I sadly shook my head. "No. My mother died when I was five and my father did what he could to keep me hidden, but after time, it wasn't just them that were after us. _Everyone_ was."

"Is a half Time Lord that important?" Jack asked and the Doctor nodded.

"Oh yes. Very. The chances of it happening are maybe five percent, but the chances of it happening _successfully_ are far less. They'd have to get just the right amount of both in the brain and the body or else one won't be able to handle the other and they'll die."

I nodded. "I was successful, but being half comes with a price."

"What do you mean?"

I looked over at Martha with a sad smile. "I'm more powerful than a Time Lord. I have the Time Lord body, but a human and Time Lord mind. Combine that with an overabundance of regenerative energy to make sure everything in me cooperates, and I become the greatest power source or the biggest weapon you could think of. I _had_ to be hidden and when my father died, there was no way for me to know when to stop other than the whispers coming from my watch."

"But… you aged!"

"The watch made me human, but only to a point. After time, the Time Lord part of me started leaking out which is why I… had the past I did."

I looked back over at the Doctor and smiled a little, scratching the back of my head. "I didn't mean to hide it from you. I just wanted to know everything for certain before I started spouting—"

I suddenly had my face grabbed and he was right there in front of me, eyes searching mine for any sort of lie, making me chuckle slightly.

"I promise I'm not lying. I'm _real_ , Doctor. A _real_ , half Time Lord."

His eyes started to well up with tears and I stiffened as he suddenly grabbed me in a hug and cried; still emotional after what happened with the Master, no doubt, not to mention what I just dropped on him.

"I-I thought I was alone. I-I thought… I thought they were all dead! That I was the last one now that the Master…"

I glanced hesitantly at Martha, mouthing the words 'help me' and she made a pointed glance at how she was rubbing her mother's back and patting her head, mouthing for me to do it as well. I did so, not really comfortable, but the connection between us as Time Lords made it a little easier. Once he'd calmed down a bit, he pushed himself away from me, clearing his throat and adjusting his suit as though he hadn't just cried on my shoulder; though the tear stains on my lab coat proved otherwise.

"Right then. I, uh, would be glad to have you join me, Riley. If you would."

"Knoll." I smiled. "Call me Knoll."

He raised a brow. "Knoll? Where'd you get that from?"

"My name. The one I chose for myself. The Knowledgeable. I'd say call me that, but it's too long. Doesn't roll of the tongue very well."

He mouthed the word as well and nodded. "Ooh, yeah. Definitely not. Knoll it is. You still getting used to the body?"

"A bit." I glanced down at myself and winced at my raggedy pants, dirty shirt and lab coat. "Need some new clothes though. These don't suit my taste." I snapped my head back up. "How do you stand being a guy? It's weird with all those extra parts down there just—"

"Alright, then!" Martha shouted, interrupting us and making us both turn towards her. "I'm going to assume the new body thing you've been blabbering on about has to do with regeneration?"

I nodded and she went on before I could say anything.

"That's all I wanted to know. It's weird knowing that you can change sex—"

"And species!" The Doctor and I both called out, turning to each other and smiling.

"And species…" She said, but then reminded us of our current situation. "But weren't you two going to do something?"

We both lost our cheery attitudes and looked back at the covered body of the Master, the Doctor pulling a hand through his hair.

"You're right. We can't just leave him." He went over and picked up the Master, the two of us heading towards the area where the Tardis was, but he stopped to look over at Martha with a small smile. "I'll see you."

"Yeah."

The two of us stayed silent the whole ride down to the cliffed area where the Doctor wanted to burn the body and we watched as it burned, before turning to leave. We met up with Martha and Jack the next day and all leaned against a rail outside once Martha had delivered some flowers to the new Professor Docherty.

"Time was… Every single one of these people knew your name. Now they've forgotten you." Martha told the Doctor.

"Good." He replied, just before Jack ducked under the railing. "Back to work."

"I really don't mind though." The Doctor said, grabbing his attention. "Come with me."

"I had plenty of time to think that past year. The year that never was." Jack looked off into the distance. "And I kept thinking about that team of mine. Like you said, Doctor." He turned back around. "Responsibility."

The Doctor wrinkled his nose with a nod. "Defending the Earth. Can't argue with that." The Doctor then grabbed his wrists where the Time Manipulator sat, him pulling out his sonic screwdriver.

"Hey! I need that."

The Doctor ignored him. "I can't have you walking around with a time traveling teleport. You could go anywhere, _twice_. The second time to apologize."

"And what about me?" He questioned. "Will you be able to fix that? Will I ever be able to die?"

"Nothing I can do." The Doctor apologized. "You're an impossible thing, Jack."

He laughed. "Been called that before."

I poked my head between them, gesturing to Jack. "You're saying I could've killed him as revenge instead of that punch?!"

"Now, Knoll." The Doctor scolded. "There'd be a mess to clean up. You know that."

"Hey!" Jack whined as we chuckled, before he smiled and headed off, only to double back and salute. "Sir."

The Doctor saluted back as Jack winked.

"Ma'am."

Martha saluted as well and Jack rolled his eyes at me.

"Knoll."

"Jack." I said, sticking out my tongue at him childishly, as he lowered his hand and turned around, only to turn back.

"But I keep wondering. What about aging? Because I can't die but I keep getting older. The odd little grey hair, you know? What happens if I live for a million years?"

"I really don't know."

"Okay, vanity. Sorry. Yeah, can't help it. Used to be a poster boy when I was a kid living on the Boeshane Peninsula. _Tiny_ little place. I was the first one _ever_ to be signed up for the Time Agency. They were so proud of me. The Face of Boe, they called me. Hmm. I'll see you."

He headed off and Martha and the Doctor seemed to share a moment there, both looking between each other and Jack.

"No."

"It _can't_ be."

"No. Definitely not!" The Doctor denied. "No."

Martha laughed, but the Doctor continued to gape in shock.

"Nooo."

"Is there something I'm missing?" I questioned, not sure what was going on.

"There's this guy called the Face of Boe in the future." Martha explained. "A big ol' face in a glass container. He's said to be billions of years old and one of the wisest creatures in the universe."

"Oh, and Jack's him?" I said, connecting the dots, though I frowned. "Yeah, no. I'm not seeing it."

The Doctor laughed too, before we climbed into the Tardis and dropped Martha off at home to see her family. I stayed in the Tardis as the Doctor walked her out, before he returned looking a little upset as he tossed his jacket over a column. He looked around as the Tardis hummed in slight worry and I glanced up at him from the chair I was in, fiddling with a Rubik's cube.

"She's worried, you know." I told him as he plopped down and propped his feet up on the console. "And she doesn't appreciate that." I said, glancing at his feet.

"Yeah, well. It's just for a moment."

I sighed, just as the door opened and Martha walked in, surprising the Doctor.

"Right then! Off we go! The open road!" He clapped, getting up and messing with the console. "There is a burst of starfire _right_ now over the coast of Meta Sigmafolio. Oh, the sky is like oil on water. Fancy a look? Or back in time. We could, I don't know, Charles the Second? Henry the Eighth. I know! What about Agatha Christie? I'd _love_ to meet Agatha Christie. I bet she's brilliant." He stopped when Martha said nothing. "Okay."

"I just can't."

"Yeah."

I stood up, moving towards the stairs and pointing at them. "I'll just go then. Don't leave anywhere without telling me first. I'm just… gonna change out of these clothes."

The Doctor turned to me and nodded." Right. Yeah. Go ahead. The Tardis will move the room closer for ya."

I nodded and glanced at Martha with a small sad wave, knowing what she was planning on doing. "Goodbye, Martha."

She waved a little back. "Bye, Riley."

I smiled fondly at the old name, knowing that, to her, I would always be Riley. And I headed off up the stairs and into the room that the Tardis had for me. There wasn't much. I hadn't been in here long enough for more than a bed, a desk, and mounds of books in a bookshelf. I set the Rubik's cube on the shelf as well and sighed, gazing up to the ceiling of the Tardis blue room with a small smile as she hummed.

"Don't worry, old girl." I told her, patting the wall. "We'll keep him company, eh? And who knows? Maybe he'll pick up another one."

She hummed back as I grabbed some clothes and got in the shower, hoping that I would be enough to keep the Doctor sane and him me.


End file.
